Rohit Sharma yet to confirm availability for Vijay Hazare Trophy, states MCA official
Rohit Sharma has yet to confirm his availability for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the MCA revealed. The ex-India captain, recently named Player of the Series against Australia, is training in Mumbai and is expected to feature in the upcoming ODI series vs South Africa.
Former India captain Rohit Sharma has not yet informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) about his participation in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy. The tournament is scheduled to take place across Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jaipur, and Bengaluru from December 25 to January 18, with the knockout phase to be held at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.
A senior official from the MCA confirmed that the association has not received any official communication from Rohit regarding his availability. “There has been no communication as far as I am aware,” the official said as quoted by PTI. In the meantime, the BCCI officials have confirmed that participating in domestic tournaments is key for the national set-up.
Rohit, who recently stepped away from Test and T20I cricket to focus on the 50-over format, has been in fine touch. In India’s recent ODI series against Australia, he played two significant knocks, including a fluent 73 in the second match and an unbeaten 121 in the final game, earning him the ‘Player of the Series’ award despite India losing the series 1-2.
Rohit’s update after Australia series
The 37-year-old opener has been regularly training at the MCA’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) facility in Mumbai. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also joined him for a few sessions before leaving to join the national squad for the upcoming Test series against South Africa in Kolkata.
With both Rohit and Virat Kohli having announced their retirement from Test and T20I formats, the duo is expected to anchor India’s one-day team heading into the next phase of ODI cricket. They are set to return for the three-match ODI series against South Africa later this month.
The series will begin on November 30 in Ranchi, followed by the second and third matches in Raipur and Visakhapatnam on December 3 and 6, respectively. It remains to be seen if Rohit chooses to represent Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy after completing his international commitments.