Team India stalwart Virat Kohli has confirmed his availability to feature in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Delhi and District Cricket Association DDCA President Rohan Jaitley told PTI.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy is set to begin on December 24.
Currently, Kohli is busy featuring in the three-match ODI series against South Africa. In the first match of the series, the right-hander had smashed his 52nd century in the 50-over format, which is the highest number of tons scored by any player.
Earlier, he announced his retirement from Test cricket and had also drawn curtains on his T20I career after Team India`s T20 World Cup 2024 triumph in Barbados.
Speaking about Kohli`s return to the tournament, Jaitley said that it will be a major boost for Delhi`s dressing room.
“He has confirmed his availability to play in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. How many games he will feature in, that is not clear yet. Obviously, him being around will be a massive boost to the Delhi dressing room,” he stated.
The 37-year-old will be returning to the Vijay Hazare Trophy for the first time since February 2010, when he played against Services.
Delhi will open its tournament campaign against Andhra in Bengaluru on December 24. The side will participate in a total of six matches.
They are placed in Group D along with Andhra, Gujarat, Saurashtra, Odisha, Services, Railways, and Haryana. The league matches are currently scheduled to be played at Alur, a venue on the outskirts of Bengaluru, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, and the BCCI Centre of Excellence grounds, close to the airport.
The knockout matches, including the final, are scheduled to be played in the BCCI CoE grounds.
However, Kohli will not be part of the knockouts should Delhi reach that far, as he is set to play in India`s three-match ODI series against New Zealand between January 11 and 18, 2026.
Fans are expected to turn up in large numbers to watch the action at the ground when Kohli is around.
Earlier this year, Kohli made a grand spectacle of an otherwise drab Ranji Trophy game when he played his first first-class match in more than 12 years.
More than 12000 people came to watch Kohli play, numbers unheard of for a domestic fixture in a long while.
(With PTI Inputs)
