Wishes of cricket fans come true with Team India stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among others turning up for Vijay Hazare Trophy, a 50-over domestic tournament, that begins today. The velvety tapestry of superstars also features Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma among others
Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma during a training session at Jaipur on Tuesday; (right) Delhi’s Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant during a practice session at the BCCI CoE in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Pics/Sarfaraz Khan’s Instagram; PTI
The charismatic presence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma alongside a host of top India cricketers lends unprecedented gravitas to the Vijay Hazare One-Day Trophy beginning on Wednesday, giving all of them a chance to prove a point amid a renewed focus on domestic grind.
The velvety tapestry of superstars also features Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma among others but none attracts as much attention as Kohli and Rohit.
Their appearance has a direct link to the BCCI’s decision of making at least two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches mandatory for India cricketers. But in case of Kohli, who is playing in this tournament after 15 years, and Rohit, it is a sharp reminder that they are no longer immune to the evolving power equations within Indian cricket.
Rohit to play first two games
Rohit has made it clear that he will play the first two matches of Mumbai against Sikkim and Uttarakhand in Jaipur on December 24 and 26.
Kohli, who has been training with former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar in Mumbai, has not yet decided as to which two or three matches he will play for Delhi.
Punjab’s Shubman Gill (left) & Arshdeep Singh
Delhi will open their Elite Group D campaign against Andhra in Bengaluru at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE), following which they will face Gujarat. An underwhelming outing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy will not have a say in their selection for the ODIs against New Zealand next month, but Kohli and Rohit would know that the space around them is shrinking.
Gill, Pant in focus
Pant, a Test certainty, will be eager to bring himself back in contention for white ball formats selection. The wicketkeeper batter has not represented the country in either ODIs or T20Is since August 2024.
Gill, on the other hand, will be picking himself up after the selectors’ call to overlook him for the upcoming T20 World Cup. The right-hander will be aiming to vent some of that frustration while turning out for Punjab. For Gill, it will be a good warm-up ahead of next month’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
Search for young bowlers
Another pertinent point could be the interest of selectors in young bowlers in this edition of the tournament, particularly on the pacers.
Since Mohammed Siraj came through the Ranji Trophy circuit a few years back, no young talent has been able to produce compelling outings to break into the established Indian pace order.
Even the support line — consisting of Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana and Akash Deep — has not been consistent enough.
In that context, Gurjapneet Singh (Tamil Nadu), Gurnoor Brar (Punjab), Yudhvir Singh (J&K), Anuj Thakral (Haryana) and Sakib Hussain (Bihar) etc will evoke keen interest from the selectors.
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