Vijay Hazare Trophy: Virat Kohli is all set to make his return to domestic cricket as he has been named in Delhi's squad for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament. Rishabh Pant will be leading the team as the 20-member squad was announced for the first two matches of the competition.
The domestic 50-over tournament is scheduled to kick off on December 24. Delhi are placed in Group D and will play all of their group-stage matches in Bengaluru. Delhi are scheduled to play seven matches from December 24 to January 8, in Group D. There is still an uncertainty over Pant and Kohli's availability for all games as the duo will also join the Indian team for the three ODIs against New Zealand, starting January 11 in Vadodara. Delhi's first two games are against Andhra and Gujarat, both to be played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
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Ayush Badoni has been named Delhi's vice-captain, while Tejasvi Dahiya is the second wicketkeeper behind Pant. On the other hand, Anuj Rawat has been included as a standby wicketkeeper in case Pant is unavailable. The other batters in the squad are Yash Dhull, Priyansh Arya, Arpit Rana, Nitish Rana, Sarthak Ranjan, Divij Mehra and Ayush Doseja.
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Talking about the bowling attack, the likes of Simarjeet Singh and Prince Yadav will take the responsibility in the pace department, while Hrithik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi and Vaibhav Kandpal provide spin options. Allrounder Rohan Rana has also been named in the squad.
Virat's domestic return will be in the major focus as the former skipper aims to tackle the lack of game time with his eyes on the ODI World Cup 2027, while the BCCI and the team management continue to direct the national team players to turn out for their respective domestic teams whenever they are available.
Delhi's squad for first two VHT matches:
Rishabh Pant (C), Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma, Navdeep Saini, Ayush Badoni (vice-captain), Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Sarthak Ranjan, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Singh (wk), Nitish Rana, Hritik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi, Simarjeet Singh, Prince Yadav, Divij Mehra, Ayush Doseja, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana and Anuj Rawat
*Harshit Rana will join the squad as and when he becomes available.