CHENNAI: When the Ranji Trophy season resumed in early 2025 after the white-ball tournaments, all eyes were on the multi-day tournament for one reason. Under immense pressure after the 1-3 hammering they received Down Under, most India internationals had to turn up for their respective state sides. And some, including Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, did so after almost a decade.
India internationals playing domestic cricket had gone out of fashion in the second half of 2010s, but in early 2024, the BCCI brought on a mandate to ensure the stars of the sport show up for their states. It was one of the main reasons why Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer were dropped from the central contract list the same year. So in the aftermath of the Australia series, when Rohit and Kohli turned up for Ranji Trophy in February 2025, there was a lot of attention towards the duo. In fact, it almost led to a stampede in Delhi when Kohli played against Railways. They did not do much with the bat and ended up playing their final first-class match before retiring from red-ball cricket in the months that followed.
Now, with the duo taking the field for Mumbai and Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy — the first two rounds — the stakes have only gone up. They have silenced the questions about ODI future for the time being with stellar performances against Australia and South Africa. With momentum on their side, as they turn up in the format that suits them the most, Jaipur and Bengaluru will have all the attention. Rohit will play for Mumbai against Sikkim while Kohli will return to Bengaluru for the first time since the stampede during Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL celebrations. Delhi's match against Andhra, supposed to be held in M Chinnaswamy Stadium, was moved to BCCI CoE grounds.
While there is no telecast for either matches, expect the constant refreshing of online scorecards to keep a close eye on Rohit and Kohli. Both are expected to play the first two matches and then turn up for India in the ODIs against New Zealand next month. As things stand, there is no question over the future of either of them, especially in the lead up to the 2027 World Cup. But, as they would be aware, every outing will be examined closely, every failure will be studied and every milestone will be celebrated. While they are bound to fail once in a while, Rohit and Kohli would not want to give any chance to the selectors and team management to question their future.
Chance for Rishabh
And it is not just the two veterans who have a point to prove. Rishabh Pant will lead Delhi and he has a chance to stake his claim back in the Indian white-ball setup. Once India's first-choice keeper across formats, Pant is now a regular in Tests and struggling to find a place in the 50-over format. While the T20I keeping slot is settled for the moment, Pant will be eyeing a dominant run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, leading his state side.
As he would have seen in the case of Ishan Kishan, who captained Jharkhand to Syed Mushtaq Ali title and earned an India comeback in the process, Pant needs to perform to make a case for himself. For now, KL Rahul, who is a part of the Karnataka squad, is India's preferred keeper in ODIs. Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav will look to regain form before the NZ T20Is. Abhishek Sharma will play for Punjab. Shubman Gill, who was dropped from the T20I team, and Arshdeep Singh are expected to join the Punjab team at a later stage.
Often running in the background of the international home season, the next two weeks of the Vijay Hazare will be different. With most of the India stars back in action, domestic cricket will garner global attention. And how the players perform will be crucial for the way forward for the Indian ODI team.
