Overview

• Team India is set to leave in a single batch from New Delhi on October 15 for an eight-match white-ball tour of Australia, with Shubman Gill leading the ODI side after replacing Rohit Sharma.
• PTI-reported guidance suggests Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are expected to play a limited number of Vijay Hazare Trophy games between December 24 and January 8, with about three rounds each indicated but no formal confirmation yet.
• Mumbai and Delhi have seven listed group matches in that window, creating feasible slots before India’s next ODIs against New Zealand starting January 11.
• Ajit Agarkar reaffirmed the selection policy that players who are free should feature in domestic cricket and stated Kohli and Sharma are not in the 2027 World Cup plans, while Ravi Shastri said their ODI futures hinge on fitness, hunger and current form.
• Both veterans, now retired from Tests and T20Is, return to international action in Australia after a long break, and any Vijay Hazare appearance would be their first in years for Rohit (2018/19) and more than a decade for Kohli (2010).