CHENNAI: Their return to the domestic circuit certainly adds value and star power to the tournaments which otherwise are played with little or no public presence despite them being a regular part of BCCI's annual calendar. It was no different when Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli turned up for Mumbai and Delhi respectively on the opening day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Wednesday. While more than 20,000 watched Sharma slamming a century at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, Kohli's day out did not have any attendance as the BCCI doesn't allow spectators inside their Centre of Excellence Grounds on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Once again the duo will take the field on Friday with Mumbai taking on Uttarakhand and Delhi playing against Gujarat. The Mumbai's clash in all likelihood will be Rohit Sharma's last appearance in the domestic tournament but Kohli is expected to be back with the Delhi team after their second match against Gujarat. "At least three Vijay Hazare matches Kohli will play," Rohan Jaitley, president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), told this daily.
The third match, however, will not be this year. "Post New Year, he is expected to feature in a match. So far only three," added Jaitley. Delhi will play Services, Railways and Haryana on January 3, 6 and 8 respectively before the quarterfinals scheduled on January 12 and 13. The DDCA president, however, didn't specify which match Kohli will play and said it will be communicated soon.
Interestingly, Delhi's remaining three games are scheduled to be held in Bengaluru — the first and last most probably at the CoE Ground as the M Chinnaswamy Stadium has been denied permission to host matches and one in Alur. With Kohli in attendance, it should not be a surprise if that match is also moved to the CoE Ground for security reasons.
Mumbai, meanwhile, will see a few more India players joining their ranks for the tournament even as Sharma is unlikely to be in the fold. "So far, Rohit is supposed to play only two matches," Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar, secretary of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), said. It was learnt that the decision to play only a couple of matches was taken after consulting BCCI and Rohit's workload management in mind.
He and Kohli then would return to the India fold for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand beginning in Vadodara on January 11. India T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube are expected to join Mumbai adding more firepower to their batting line-up. Jaiswal might join the squad this year while Surya and Dube could be in the team for the last two matches before the knockouts.
After Uttarakhand, Mumbai will be up against Chhattisgarh and Goa on December 29 and 31. They will then play Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab on January 3, 6 and 8, respectively. As per the MCA, Surya and Dube are scheduled to play against Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.