Amidst Controversy and Rumors about Fitness and Form, the Upcoming Australia Series will be RoKo’s Big Test in Nearly Five Months.

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Team India’s senior duo, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, have changed their stance and decided to feature in the Vijay Hazare Trophy before the ODI series against New Zealand. The decision to participate in the domestic tournaments reflects their ambition to play World Cup 2027.

Domestic Grind before NZ ODIs

According to a report in the PTI, Kohli and Rohit are expected to make an appearance in at least three, if not four, Vijay Hazare Trophy games before the start of the home ODI series against New Zealand in January. Sports analysts considered this as the first step to stay in contention for the 2027 ODI World Cup.

The development comes just days after Agarkar said in the press conference for the squad announcement for the ODI tour of Australia that he expects Rohit and Kohli to play in the domestic List A tournament, after “remaining non-committal about their selection” for the World Cup in South Africa.

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Chief selector Ajit Agarkar said: “I think we made it clear a year or a couple of years back, now, that whenever players are available, they should be playing domestic cricket. I mean, that’s the only way you’ll keep yourself sharp and playing cricket, if you’ve got a long enough break. Whether that’s possible with the international cricket you’re playing or not, that only time will tell, but if the guys are free, they should be playing domestic cricket.”

Plan for Vijay Hazare Trophy

"Between the last ODI against South Africa on December 6 at Visakhapatnam and the first ODI against New Zealand at Vadodara on January 11, there is a gap of five weeks. The Vijay Hazare Trophy starts on December 24. There will be six rounds of games for Mumbai (December 24, 26, 29, 31, Jan 3, 6, 8). Rohit will be expected to at least play three rounds before linking up with the squad. Ditto for Virat," a BCCI source told PTI.

Kohli last played in the domestic List A tournament for Delhi in 2010, scoring 16 runs batting at No. 5 in the match against the Services. Former ODI captain Rohit Sharma made his last appearance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in 2018, when he scored 24 in the semi-final against Hyderabad for Mumbai.

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RoKo’s Test vs Australia

Both the veterans last appeared in competitive cricket in the IPL 2025. Amidst controversy and rumors about fitness and form, the Australia series will be their big test in nearly five months. 

In the press conference, Agarkar said: “I mean, what they’ve been doing for years, try and score runs. I don’t think that changes. You’re still playing for your country. They are still leaders in that dressing room, but eventually it’s the runs and they’ve scored tons of them, both of them, and been extremely successful in this format. So we hope they keep doing it, and you don’t have to think too far at this point. The team is picked for Australia, and we need them to score runs like they have throughout their career. Those are two really experienced guys who’ve been around for a long time. So they would perhaps find it a little bit alien just to play one format, which is played the least, but they’re probably the guys to answer that. And we’ll find out a bit more when we see them in Australia playing. There’s no doubt about their quality as players. Whether not playing a lot of cricket makes a difference: One, you should ask them, and we’ll find out when they play, but it doesn’t happen too many times.”

Unfair as it might appear at this stage of their celebrated careers, Rohit and Virat must keep showing that they have the skills, the fitness, and more importantly, the passion and the fire to keep playing for the upcoming two years for the World Cup.

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At the end of the day, if both the top-order batters are fit and firing, India would have a better chance to win the World Cup. And if they are not, there will be no dearth of alternatives as players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Abhishek Sharma, and Sanju Samson are still on the hunt for a permanent place in the ODI side.