Rishabh Pant to play for Delhi against Saurashtra, suspense over Virat Kohli

Rishabh Pant has confirmed his availability for the next round of Delhi’s Ranji Trophy match to be played against Saurashtra in Rajkot from January 23 although there is no certainty over Virat Kohli's availability.

“Rishabh will be playing the match in Rajkot,” said Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) secretary Ashok Sharma to www.thedelhijunction.com

Pant, who last featured in India’s recent Test series loss against Australia, hasn’t yet joined the Delhi Ranji Trophy camp that is now underway at the Ferozeshah Kotla grounds of the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Neither Pant nor Virat Kohli have made an appearance at the camp while pace bowler Ishant Sharma has already made it known to selectors that he won’t be part of the multi-day format.

There have been suggestions from various quarters that Virat Kohli should play first-class cricket to overcome his poor form, and his availability 12 years after he last represented Delhi in Raji Trophy has come in focus especially in light of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) directive last year to all India players to feature in first-class cricket.

“We have no news about him joining the team. We had put his and Pant’s name in the list of probables,” said Sharma, secretary of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).

The DDCA President Rohan Jaitley is yet to respond to www.thedelhijunction.com on Kohli’s availability.

Ishant has joined the Gujarat Titans camp along with wicketkeeper batsman Anuj Rawat, who is missing from the Delhi camp and may find it hard to return. Rawat had missed the last two matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy and had to be replaced by Tejasvi Dahiya, who scored a century on his debut.  

“There are around 38-40 players attending the camp which began on Friday. There are no current international players in the camp at the moment,” said a DDCA official.

After Delhi play their next Ranji game against Saurashtra in Rajkot from January 23, they wind up the league phase of the 2024-25 season at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi against Railways from January 30.

They are placed third in Elite Group D with 14 points.

Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh lead the points table with 19 points.

Tags : Rishabh Pant, Virat Kohli, Ranji Trophy, DDCA, BCCI, Delhi, Rohan Jaitley