Star batter Virat Kohli will play for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy fixture against Railways from January 30 to February 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
| Photo Credit: The Hindu

Star batter Virat Kohli will play for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy fixture against Railways from January 30 to February 2 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. The last time Kohli played in the First Class competition was in November 2012, against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad.

“Kohli spoke to me and confirmed his availability for the Railways game,” Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) president Rohan Jaitley told The Hindu on Monday (January 20, 2025).

With the BCCI making participation in domestic cricket mandatory for players to be eligible for selection in the national team according to new guidelines, a number of India players, including Rohit Sharma, will be turning out for their State teams in the next round commencing January 23.

Kohli is missing the game against Saurashtra due to a neck sprain.

Kohli had his travails with the bat in the five-Test series in Australia.

The Ranji fixture will give the 36-year-old an opportunity to get back among the runs before joining the Indian team for the three-match ODI series against England followed by the Champions Trophy.

Captain Rohit Sharma during a press conference to announce the ODI squad for England and Champions Trophy at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on January 18, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini\

India captain Rohit Sharma on Saturday (January 18, 2025) confirmed his availability for Mumbai’s next Ranji Trophy match against Jammu and Kashmir, but stressed on the need to take time off from a busy calendar amid the clamour for star players’ participation in domestic cricket.

Rohit also said that no player takes premier domestic red ball tournament for granted.

Mumbai will play Jammu and Kashmir at the MCA-BKC Ground when the Ranji Trophy resumes on January 23.

Asked about his availability for the game during a press conference at the BCCI Headquarters here, Rohit responded in the positive.

The India skipper then added, “Last 6-7 years, if you look at our calendar, we haven’t been sitting home for 45 days when cricket is going on. You do get time when IPL finishes when nothing happens after that.”

“Our domestic season begins in October, ends till March. Guys who are not playing all formats and when there’s domestic cricket happening, they can play.

“For me personally, Since I’ve started playing Test cricket regularly since 2019, you hardly get time. When you play international cricket regularly, you need time off, just to refresh. Nobody takes it for granted.”

The 37-year-old Rohit, who has ruled out Test retirement despite managing one fifty in his last 15 innings in the format, trained with the Mumbai squad at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday ahead of the second phase of the Ranji Trophy.

India dropped their woefully out-of-form captain for the final Test in Australia at SCG after he failed as an opener, his usual role, as well as a middle-order batter.