Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal Play Vijay Hazare Trophy Ahead of India vs New Zealand ODI Series

Two of India’s top cricket stars, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal, will play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the coming days. Kohli has already been in the news all week after playing in the first two league matches of India’s main domestic 50-over tournament. He hammered a century and a fifty in those games for Delhi. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma also starred for Mumbai.

According to Cricbuzz, Rohit Sharma will not play any more domestic matches this season. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli will next play for Delhi in the Round 6 match against Railways. It will be played on January 6. As for Jaiswal, he will be featuring in a couple of games for Mumbai. Both these players are eyeing some game time before the India vs New Zealand ODI series that starts on January 11 in Vadodara. Virat Kohli doesn’t come back to domestic cricket just to make up the numbers. When he turned up for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after a 15-year gap, there was a sense that this was about more than just fulfilling BCCI’s diktat. 

His hunger was clear, and he dominated the game completely. Kohli’s brilliant 131 against Andhra was outstanding. It was his 58th List A century, his fifth for Delhi, and it also took him past 16,000 List A runs, making him only the second Indian to achieve this milestone. He achieved it in just 330 innings, faster than anyone else in men’s List A history.

Kohli and Jaiswal Play Vijay Hazare Matches Ahead of New Zealand ODI Series

Then came another breezy knock of 77 against Gujarat. While Kohli was undone with a peach from Gujarat’s Vishal Jayswal, it gave something to remember for a lifetime for his opposition. So, Kohli’s presence is more than just to come and accumulate runs. Kohli will now turn up against Railways, a team against whom he played his last first-class game. His only appearance in the previous edition of the Ranji Trophy. Considering Kohli has been unstoppable since his fifty in the Sydney ODI against Australia, Railways bowlers should find a hiding place on the field.

With Shubman Gill coming back into India’s ODI team, Yashasvi Jaiswal is unlikely to get many chances to play. This is even though Jaiswal scored a century in his last ODI against South Africa. However, he can’t remain off the field for long as Jaiswal is set to play a couple of games for Mumbai in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Mumbai’s next three games are against Goa (Dec 31), Maharashtra (Jan 3) and Himachal Pradesh (Jan 6). Jaiswal, who turned 24 yesterday, can play all three games.

It is basically up to him but the report suggests “only a couple of games”. The India vs New Zealand ODI series beckons from Janauary 11 and the Indian team will join a camp in Baroda on January 7. Hence, Jaiswal and Kohli won’t take part in the rest of the VHT going forward.