Rohit Sharma to play two matches in Vijay Hazare Trophy:Shardul to lead Mumbai, Rahane rested; tournament begins on 24 Dec against Sikkim

Former India captain Rohit Sharma will turn out for Mumbai in the opening two matches of the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT). The domestic one-day tournament begins on December 24, and Rohit’s inclusion comes after the BCCI made it mandatory for current national team players to feature in at least two domestic matches, unless ruled out due to injury. However, India’s T20I captain Suryakumar Yadav, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and all-rounder Shivam Dube have not been named in Mumbai’s initial squad. The team will be led by all-rounder Shardul Thakur for the tournament. Rohit confirmed, others to join later in the Vijay Hazare Trophy The group stage of the Vijay Hazare Trophy will be played from December 24, 2025, to January 8, 2026. Mumbai have been placed in Elite Group C along with Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Goa. All of Mumbai’s group matches will be held in Jaipur. “Rohit will play in Mumbai’s first two matches of the tournament (against Sikkim on Dec 24, and against Uttarakhand on Dec 26, at Jaipur),” a source in the Mumbai Cricket Association told TOI on Friday. The BCCI directive has already seen Virat Kohli confirm his availability for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The selection committee’s stand on Indian players availability “All the India players will be accommodated in the Mumbai squad as and when they are available,” Mumbai senior selection committee chairman Sanjay Patil told this paper after the squad was picked. Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar, currently MCA’s men’s cricket advisor, was also present during the selection meeting. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is India’s regular Test and ODI opener, is currently recovering after being hospitalised in Pune with acute gastroenteritis following Mumbai’s last Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match. “He will be included in the Mumbai squad once he gets clearance from the medical team,” Patil said. India’s next international assignment begins with a three-match ODI series against New Zealand from January 11, 2026, in Vadodara. Rahane rested, new faces included Meanwhile, former India and Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane has requested rest for the initial league matches. “He has got a hamstring issue, and will rest and recover. He will join the Mumbai team after the first couple of matches,” Patil said. The selectors handed a maiden call-up to opener Ishan Mulchandani. Young batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi retained his place despite a modest Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy outing. Sarfaraz Khan, who was in outstanding form in the T20 tournament, is part of the squad along with his younger brother, all-rounder Musheer Khan. Review of Mumbai’s SMAT campaign Though Mumbai failed to defend their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title, Patil expressed satisfaction with the team’s effort. “I’m quite happy with our performance. We won eight out of our 10 matches, which means that we played some good cricket. Everyone played well, especially Sarfaraz Khan. It’s just that we suffered badly due to the Net Run Rate Rule,” Patil said. Mumbai exited the Super League stage despite winning two of their three matches, as NRR was recalculated from scratch under tournament rules.