Himachal Pradesh 09:57 – 09:57 (IST) 06 Jan In what appears to be a last-minute decision, star batsman Virat Kohli will not play in Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Railways in Bengaluru on Tuesday, January 6. As per BCCI guidelines, Kohli played two matches for Delhi at the start of the tournament against Andhra and Gujarat.

He scored 131 and 77 in those games, helping Delhi register consecutive wins. After missing the next three matches, there were hopes that Kohli might feature in one more game before joining the Indian team for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting on Sunday. However, that won’t be the case, and Delhi Railways will play the match without him as they look to remain on top in Group D.

“No, he is not available,” Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh confirmed. As per BCCI orders, centrally contracted players are required to play at least two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches. Kohli fulfilled that requirement with his first performance in the tournament.

DDCA President Rohan Jaitley had said earlier last week that Kohli would play the match against Railways. During his two matches for Delhi, Kohli was in form, scoring 131 and 77. In the process, he became the fastest player to reach 16,000 List A runs, achieving the milestone in his 330th innings.

He went ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, who reached this milestone in 391 innings. The ODI series against New Zealand starts on January 11. Had Kohli played, he would have faced fast bowler Himanshu Sangwan in the Railways match, who dismissed him, in what was the last red-ball match of Kohli’s career.

Kohli’s absence comes as the New Zealand series approaches, following his white-ball form last year when he scored 302 against South Africa. Rohit Sharma has already played two matches for Mumbai, with both the senior batsmen now completing their domestic appearances this season.