Kohli confirms availability for Delhi’s Ranji fixture starting Jan 30 marking his return to the competition after 12 years.
Kohli confirms that he will be playing in Delhi’s last round of group-phase matches, against Railways, from January 30 to February 2..
The lineups for the last round of group-phase matches, which begin on January 23 when Delhi plays Saurashtra in Rajkot, noticeably lacked Kohli. Ravindra Jadeja and Rishabh Pant both stated that they will play in this match, however Kohli was pulled out after telling the BCCI medical staff that he was still healing from neck soreness for which he had received an injection on January 8, three days after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy concluded in Sydney. The January 23 round of matches will also include a number of prominent Indian players, such as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Rohit Sharma.
The BCCI, in consultation with the team leadership group consisting of head coach Gautam Gambhir, Test and ODI captain Rohit, and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, established a number of regulations while evaluating India’s recent string of Test cricket losses, first to New Zealand and then to Australia. One of these regulations requires centrally contracted players to play in domestic cricket. According to the BCCI, a player can only opt out if they have the selection panel head’s prior consent and are not on duty elsewhere.
It was unclear whether Kohli had informed Agarkar and the Indian team management that he will be participating in the Ranji games on January 30. The start of the ODI series against England on February 6 would just be three days away if the match goes the full distance and ends on February 2. For the England series and the Champions Trophy, where India will play their opening match on February 20, Kohli is a member of the Indian squad.