Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite 2025-26: Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma Poised For Domestic Return
Virat and Rohit will be turning up for Delhi and Mumbai respectively in the upcoming season of Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The 2025/26 season of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (India's premier domestic 50-over competition) will kick-off from Dec. 24, 2025 and will run till Jan. 18, 2026. There will be 32 state teams competing for the glory.
The 2025/26 edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy will be closely followed as star cricketers Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are set to feature in the competition.
While Kohli has been named in the Delhi's squad for the, Rohit will feature for Mumbai.
It would have been a big boost for the domestic cricket's viewership if Delhi and Mumbai were part of the same group and the duo were to play the entire season.
But, that is not the case as Delhi are part of Elite Group D competing alongside Andhra, Gujarat, Saurashtra, Odisha, Services, Railways and Haryana.
Mumbai, on the other hand, are one of the eight teams of Elite Group C. In the group stage, Mumbai will be playing against Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh.
Kohli and Rohit anyway will only be playing the first two matches for Delhi and Mumbai. India's international commitments mean, the two players will be called for the ODI series against New Zealand that gets underway from Jan. 11.
The tournament will be the first time when the two senior batters will be seen in action since the conclusion of the ODI series against South Africa, which India won 2-1.
When Was The Last Time Kohli And Rohit Played Vijay Hazare Trophy?
Earlier this year, Kohli played his first Ranji Trophy (India's premier domestic first-class cricket championship) match after more than 12 years. It was a match between Delhi and the Railways team played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
However, it has been 15 years since Kohli last played a Vijay Hazare match. His previous game in the tournament was on Feb. 18, 2010, in which he led Delhi against Services.
Like Kohli, Rohit too played in the Ranji Trophy this year. It was a match between Mumbai and Jammu and Kashmir played in Srinagar, and it marked Rohit's return to the Ranji Trophy since Nov. 2015.
Rohit's last appearance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, though, has been more recent than that of Kohli. He last played for Mumbai seven years ago in 2018. The former India captain played in the quarter-final and semi-final matches against Bihar and Hyderabad.
Virat turned 37 on Nov. 5 and Rohit is now 38 and the two batters are in the twilight of their respective careers. Considering that Virat and Rohit haven't featured in domestic cricket often, the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy is very likely be the last time they feature for Delhi and Mumbai respectively.
