Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant included in Delhi's probable squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy

The Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) has announced the side's probable squad for the Vijay Hazare Trophy that is set to commence from December 24. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant's participation in the tournament was widely debated beforehand, and the duo have now been included in Delhi's probable squad.

Delhi to receive major boost in batting order?

Both Kohli and Pant had confirmed their availability for the Vijay Hazare Trophy earlier this month. If the two do go on to be included in the side's playing XI, then their batting lineup will be strengthened massively. Notably, Delhi's first two games of the competition will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru that is the home ground  of Kohli's IPL team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Their remaining five matches will be held at the Alur Cricket stadium that is also situated in Bengaluru.

Kohli and Pant's long absence

While Kohli hasn't played one-day cricket for Delhi since the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy in September 2013, Pant's last appearance for Delhi's List-A team came in 2018. Both haven't featured for the side in the 50-over format for quite a lot of years now. They may make their long comeback in the team's Vijay Hazare Trophy opener that will be against Andhra on December 24.

Many contracted Indian players have decided to play in domestic tournaments due to BCCI's guidelines. They have made it compulsary for contracted players to participate in domestic cricket unless they are injured or on national duty. This guideline was made following India's 3-1 defeat to Australia in the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25.

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Delhi's probable squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy: Dev Lakra, Divij Mehra, Yugal Saini, Sujal Singh, Rajneesh Dadar, Aman Bharti, Govind Mittal, Sumit Beniwal, Shubham Dubey, Keshav Dabas, Rahul Choudhary, Samarth Seth, Shivam Tripathi, Anmol Sharma, Shivam Gupta, Lakshay Thareja, Manan Bhardwaj, Rounak Waghela, Mayank Gussain, Keshav R Singh, Laxman, Divansh Rawat, Pranav Rajvanshi, Pranshu Vijayran, Siddhant Sharma, Gagan Vats, Vansh Bedi, Rahul Gahlot, Vishal Rai, Samarth Singh, Sanat Sangwan, Aayush Singh, Sumit Mathur, Sampooran Tripathi, Vivek Tiwari, Hrithik Shokeen, Tejas Baroka, Saksham Sharma, Dev Dubey, Shivam Sharma, Rohit Yadav, Anirudh Choudhary, Vishant Bhati, Pranav Pant, Pankaj Jaswal, Ajay Guliya, Siddhant Bansal, Vikas Solanki, Divij Prakash, Suryakant Chauhan.