Vijay Hazare: Kohli to play Jan 6 game for Delhi, says DDCA chief Rohan Jaitley

Star India batter Virat Kohli will play Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy game against the Railways on January 6 at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bengaluru, DDCA President Rohan Jaitley said on Monday.

The BCCI diktat for all centrally-contracted players was to take part in at least two Vijay Hazare games but Kohli wants to play a third match as he gears up for the home series against New Zealand this month.

“As of now, he is playing. Virat have given his availability for three games,” Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley said.

Kohli was in good form in the first two games for Delhi, smashing 131 and 77 respectively.

In the process, he also became the fastest to 16,000 List A runs by reaching the milestone in his 330th innings, surpassing the iconic Sachin Tendulkar, who touched the landmark in 391 innings.

A BCCI source said that while the Indian ODI squad for the New Zealand series is assembling in Vadodara by January 8, there is a possibility that Kohli might arrive a day earlier and train.

The three-match ODI series against the Black Caps will begin at the same venue on January 11.

Meanwhile, star all-rounder Hardik Pandya and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will be rested from the ODIs as per their workload management routine created by the sports science team.

The two will be crucial for India during the home T20 World Cup starting on February 7.