The former captain and the veteran opening batter of the Indian cricket team, Rohit Sharma, arrived in Jaipur along with the pace bowling all-rounder, Shardul Thakur, for the opening round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025/26 for the Mumbai side, as they will feature in all of their games at the Sawai Mansingh Cricket Stadium.

According to the reports, Rohit has made himself available for selection for the first couple of group-stage games on December 24 against Sikkim and later on December 26 against Uttarakhand. The games will give a great injection to the 50-over side’s top order, besides offering Rohit enormous time ahead of the home ODI series against New Zealand earlier next year.

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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) made it mandatory for the national players to be part of domestic cricket if they are not part of the international assignments. That’s why, along with Rohit, Delhi’s Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant have headlined the 20-member squad with KL Rahul featuring for the Karnataka side.

Rohit Sharma and Shardul Thakur reach Jaipur for VHT 2025/26

Jaipur is the venue base for this opening leg, with Sawai Mansingh Stadium among the host grounds for Mumbai’s Elite Group C matches. The timing matters as the group stage is rarely forgiving. Under Thakur’s leadership, they didn’t have a great time in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2025/26 as they couldn’t qualify for the final.

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There is a possibility of Suryakumar Yadav and Shivam Dube featuring for the Mumbai side in the last two league games on January 06 and 08 in Jaipur, against Himachal Pradesh and Punjab, respectively. With the staggered return, Mumbai can rotate combinations without losing its senior core. Rohit, during that time, will turn his focus to international cricket.

The Nagpur-born will feature in the three-match 50-over series against the Kiwis on January 11, with the subsequent matches on January 14 and 18. The two domestic games will give a massive value for the opener ahead of the next year’s assignment.