India’s veteran batter Virat Kohli has confirmed availability to play the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi, DDCA chief Rohan Jaitley has confirmed. The BCCI has made it mandatory for all contracted players to feature in the domestic circuit.

However, Jaitley confirmed that Kohli won’t be available to play in all the matches for Delhi in the 50-over domestic tournament. 

“Yes, that’s right. He has given his availability,” Rohan Jaitley, the DDCA president, told Cricbuzz on Tuesday (December 2) evening.

The Vijay Hazare Trophy runs from December 24 to January 18.

Kohli recently said he has never been a big believer in a lot of preparation and it is more about being in the right space of mind before playing at the top level. The veteran batter has featured in 14 VHT games, scoring 819 runs at an average of 68.25 and a strike rate of 106.08, with four centuries and three fifties.

“I’ve never been a big believer of a lot of preparation, if that makes sense. All my cricket has been mental. As long as I feel mentally I can play the game, I work physically very hard every day of my life. It’s got nothing to do with cricket anymore. It’s the way I live,” Kohli had said at the post-match presentation party after the first ODI. Those comments were largely interpreted as a push-back against the BCCI line.

Kohli last played in the VHT in the 2009/10 edition, held in Feb-March 2010. Furthermore, Rohit has reportedly informed the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he will play for the team in the VHT.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli scored a match-winning knock of 135 runs off just 120 balls in the opening ODI against South Africa at Ranchi, whereas Rohit Sharma scored a decent knock of 57 runs.