Rohit Sharma available for next Ranji Trophy round, but Kohli and Rahul out

India captain Rohit Sharma has confirmed his participation for the next round of the Ranji Trophy matches starting January 23. There have been questions over Rohit’s form in the longest format after his poor show in his last eight Tests, both in India and Australia. The BCCI also recently made it clear that all contracted India players must participate in domestic cricket except when there are fitness issues.

“I will,” Rohit said at the press conference for the Champions Trophy squad announcement, when asked whether he will be playing the next Ranji game. Rohit’s domestic team Mumbai play Jammu & Kashmir at the BKC Ground at home.

Rohit missed two Tests out of five in Australia; the last one he sat out because of poor form after he managed just one double-digit score across five innings earlier on the tour. Before that, Rohit played five Tests at home in which he managed just one half-century – against New Zealand in Bengaluru – with four double-digit scores across ten innings. This season, his average stands at a dismal 10.93 from 15 innings.

Kohli, Rahul not available for Ranji

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul have told the BCCI medical staff they are carrying niggles which will not allow them to play the next round of Ranji Trophy games from January 23.

It is learnt that Kohli had neck pain and had taken an injection on January 8, three days after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ended in Sydney. Kohli told the BCCI medical staff that he was still experiencing pain, ruling him out of Delhi’s game against Saurashtra in Rajkot.

As for Rahul, he has an elbow issue which will keep him out of Karnataka’s match against Punjab in Bengaluru. On Thursday, the BCCI issued an unprecedented list of dos and don’ts for all players, which included mandatory participation in domestic cricket. In case the player is not available to play, he will need permission from the national chairman of selectors.

While Kohli and Rahul have another opportunity to play Ranji Trophy, with the final round in the group phase starting on January 30, those matches end close to the start of the ODI series against England from February 6. Both Kohli and Rahul are in contention to play the England ODIs and the Champions Trophy; squads for which will be announced on Saturday.