BCCI Keen To Convince Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli To Participate In Vijay Hazare Trophy: Report

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are all set to return to action as they will be playing in the three-match ODI series between India and South Africa, starting in Ranchi on Sunday, November 30. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wants both the veteran batters Rohit and Virat to play in the 2025-26 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The premier domestic one-day tournament is scheduled to take place from December 24 to January 18. Virat and Rohit will be aiming to capitalise on the momentum they got after their match-winning efforts in the third and final ODI match against Australia. However, India ended up losing the series 1-2.

According to a report in the Times of India on Saturday (November 29), "the board would have been pleased if they (Rohit and Virat) had played some cricket in England during the summer. They will be advised to take part in the Vijay Hazare Trophy next month."

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While Virat and Rohit remain one-format players after their retirement from Tests and T20Is, it was reported earlier that the latter made himself available for Mumbai’s Vijay Hazare Trophy matches. However, there is no clarity over Kohli’s participation. Kohli hasn’t played in the VHT for Delhi for more than 10 years now. Meanwhile, he turned up for his domestic side for one Ranji Trophy match earlier this year and played under Ayush Badoni's captaincy.

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It has also been reported by TOI that following the conclusion of the India vs South Africa ODI series, the BCCI is planning to set up a meeting between selectors and the team management to “to have clarify a plan on Rohit and Kohli’s future" in the ODI setup, with an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup.

India's stand-in skipper for the South Africa series, KL Rahul, emphasised the immense value of having senior players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the team.

"Their importance at any point is huge. To have senior players in the team obviously makes the dressing room feel a lot more confident. Just having their presence and experience helps out a lot of players in the dressing room and helps out the team. So, we're really happy that they're here," Rahul said.

"Winning is the most important thing. That's what we're trying to focus on and try and forget what happened a week ago and focus on the game tomorrow and see how we can put in a collective performance which helps us get a victory and then go on from here to the next venue and see how we can do that again and try and win this series. So, that's the most important thing, and that's what we're thinking about. Obviously, having a settled team helps and having some similar faces helps the dressing room as well," the right-hand batter said.