Star India batter Virat Kohli is set to feature in Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy clash against Railways on January 6 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru, Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rohan Jaitley confirmed on Monday.
Although the BCCI had mandated centrally contracted players to participate in at least two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches, Kohli has opted to play a third game as part of his preparation for the upcoming home ODI series against New Zealand.
“As of now, he is playing. Virat has given his availability for three games,” Jaitley told PTI.
Kohli has been in fine form in the tournament, scoring 131 and 77 in his first two appearances for Delhi. During the innings of 131, the former India captain also became the fastest batter to reach 16,000 List A runs, achieving the milestone in just 330 innings—surpassing Sachin Tendulkar, who reached the mark in 391 innings.
According to a BCCI source, while the Indian ODI squad is scheduled to assemble in Vadodara by January 8 ahead of the New Zealand series, Kohli could arrive a day earlier to begin training.
The three-match ODI series against the Black Caps will commence in Vadodara on January 11.
Meanwhile, as reported earlier by PTI, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be rested from the ODI series in line with workload management protocols devised by the BCCI’s sports science team. Both players are expected to be key figures for India in the home T20 World Cup, which begins on February 7.
(By PTI Inputs)
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