NEW DELHI: India’s batting stalwart Virat Kohli is set to join the Delhi squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy as the DDCA named him and Rishabh Pant in the extended pool for the domestic one day competition.

Kohli’s return was confirmed earlier and Pant’s presence gives Delhi a major lift as they prepare for a demanding season.

Major boost for Delhi’s batting

Under the BCCI rule that requires contracted players to turn out for their state sides when they are free of national duty, Delhi are likely to field two of their most influential batting names.

Kohli and Pant bring experience, calmness and natural firepower and their inclusion strengthens a group that has been searching for consistency in pressure games.

Pant did not get game time in the ODI series against South Africa and the tournament is expected to help him sharpen his timing before the home ODI series against New Zealand in January.

Both star players are expected to remain available until India’s next international assignment from January eleven to seventeen.

Full list of fifty probables:

Dev Lakra, Divij Mehra, Yugal Saini, Sujal Singh, Rajneesh Dadar, Aman Bharti, Govind Mittal, Sumit Beniwal, Shubham Dubey, Keshav Dabas, Rahul Choudhary, Samarth Seth, Shivam Tripathi, Anmol Sharma, Shivam Gupta, Lakshay Thareja, Manan Bhardwaj, Rounak Waghela, Mayank Gussain, Keshav R Singh, Laxman, Divansh Rawat, Pranav Rajvanshi, Pranshu Vijayran, Siddhant Sharma, Gagan Vats, Vansh Bedi, Rahul Gahlot, Vishal Rai, Samarth Singh, Sanat Sangwan, Aayush Singh, Sumit Mathur, Sampooran Tripathi, Vivek Tiwari, Hrithik Shokeen, Tejas Baroka, Saksham Sharma, Dev Dubey, Shivam Sharma, Rohit Yadav, Anirudh Choudhary, Vishant Bhati, Pranav Pant, Pankaj Jaswal, Ajay Guliya, Siddhant Bansal, Vikas Solanki, Divij Prakash and Suryakant Chauhan.

Kohli joins after stunning ODI series

Kohli enters the domestic season fresh from a blistering ODI run against South Africa where he smashed two centuries and an unbeaten half century. His tally of 302 runs earned him the player of the series award and reminded fans of his vintage dominance.

With Kohli in full rhythm and Pant eager to find match sharpness, Delhi carry renewed belief heading into the Vijay Hazare Trophy and look stronger than they have in recent seasons.