The last available updates suggest that the Indian batting duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will come to Vadodara on the 7th of this month, which is the starting date of their practice and is the camp venue too.
With Virat Kohli’s decision to skip the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025–26, the India ODI team will be getting together at this camp to prepare for the tournament. However, it is noteworthy that almost all other players who are going to play the ODIs against New Zealand will also be leaving for the camp, thus snubbing the tournament.
Reports prior to this had pointed toward the likelihood that Kohli and Sharma would be playing the two matches for their respective teams, Mumbai and Delhi, and then would not be available for the tournament any longer.
Virat Kohli not participating in VHT while Pant is playing his last game against Railways
This new turn of events, which was first reported by Jagran News reporter Abhishek Tripathi, now makes it clear that Virat Kohli will not be on the roster for the upcoming matches of the domestic tournament. It also clarifies the reason behind Kohli’s unavailability for the Delhi vs Railways match on January 6 even though he was very eager to play.
Kohli along with Sharma will be reaching the Vadodara training camp on January 7 as they are about to start the preparations early. This will result in their absence in the remaining fixtures of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Rishabh Pant who captained Delhi in the tournament was playing the ongoing match against Railways and it was reportedly his last appearance before the India vs New Zealand ODI series.
Could Iyer, Gill, Jadeja, and Kohli be following?
The same goes for Shreyas Iyer, who had previously been reported as taking over the captaincy of Mumbai in place of the injured Shardul Thakur and might also exit the tournament during the preparations for the India vs New Zealand ODI series.
Initially, the management of Mumbai had aimed at Shreyas Iyer to be the captain of the team, and there was a chance of him playing in the last two league matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. However, this now looks highly unlikely because the ODI series will be over on January 18 which is the same day as the final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Also, Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja are going to face the same fate. They too will not play any further matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as their participation has been planned for the upcoming ODI fixtures only. The first ODI between India and New Zealand is scheduled for January 11