There’s a new color to this year’s Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT). Apart from the usual List-A talents who’d try to announce — or remind about — themselves with an eye on the 2027 ODI World Cup, several international stars are set to feature for their respective states and regions.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the obvious ones, returning to the tournament after 15 and six years, with much fanfare. There are also plot lines like Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma playing together for Punjab.
While these four will be seen in action as early as the first rounds, which begin on December 24, some players will only appear near the end of the league stage. For example, the Mumbai Cricket Association has confirmed that Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube will play the final
games on January 6th and 8th, against Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, respectively, while Ravindra Jadeja is also likely to do the same for Saurashtra.
In other states there are murmurs of concerns, like in Kerala, where fans are wondering why Sanju Samson is not with the squad yet, despite being named in it. However, News18 CricketNext has learned that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has given this flexibility to members of India’s 2026 T20 World Cup squad, allowing them to feature only in the final couple of league matches in the tournament if they want.
“The BCCI has told the T20 World Cup squad members that they can play the last couple of matches in the VHT,” a source close to one of the players told this website.
The board expects all international stars to play at least one match in the tournament, with this push getting stricter after India’s 3-1 Test series defeat in Australia earlier this year.
“I think we made it clear a year or a couple of years back that whenever players are available, they should be playing domestic cricket,” chief selector Ajit Agarkar said recently. “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.”
