Virat Kohli made a sensational return to domestic white-ball cricket by registering a century and a fifty in Delhi's first two games of the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli's participation follows the rules put forward by Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which had given India's national cricketers the order to play a minimum of two matches in the tournament.
Kohli began with a fluent 101-ball 131 against Andhra in a run chase that Delhi won with 12.2 overs to spare. In the second fixture against Gujarat, the 37-year-old looked set for another hundred before being stumped for a 61-ball 77. Since the South Africa ODI series at home, Kohli seems to back in the zone and with him in this kind of form, the 2027 World Cup might not be a dream after all.
Kohli's childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma strongly backs his famous pupil to play another edition of the ODI World Cup. There were big rumours of a possible Kohli retirement leading up to the Australia tour in October, especially with head coach Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar giving cryptic statements about the team's future plans in ODIs. Kohli's former coach feels that this decision is a no-brainer.
"He's in excellent form right now. He batted very well and ensured Delhi's victory. He played domestic cricket after a long time, but still performed very well. He is the most consistent player in the Indian team and is fully prepared for the 2027 World Cup," said Sharma.
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Kohli was Player of the Series in India's 2-1 series win against South Africa, notching up two centuries and an unbeaten 65 to round off a superb series. Apart from the runs, the manner in which he got them seemed encouraging and Kohli himself remarked that he hadn't batted this well in the last two to three years.
"Virat Kohli is in excellent form and has continued that momentum. Just like he recently scored two centuries for Team India, he continued that excellent form with a superb batting performance and helped Delhi win the match. Virat Kohli is in excellent touch. Therefore, I believe he is fully prepared for the World Cup."