India's Test captain Virat Kohli has decided to take rest while teammates Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma will be playing for Delhi against Baroda in their opening group league match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Thursday.
Delhi's coach Vijay Dahiya confirmed that both Shikhar and Ishant are available for the Baroda game.
"Virat is not playing in this game. We had already kept a stand-bye (Vaibhav Rawal). Shikhar and Ishant trained with the other boys this morning and are available for this game. We do not have any fitness issues either," Dahiya said.
Asked if skipper Gautam Gambhir will bat down the order, now that Shikhar will be playing, Dahiya said: "No, Shikhar and Gautam will open the innings. Unmukt will come in at No 3."
He was also happy with the pitch but is expecting the white Kookaburra ball to do its bit on a chilly December morning.
"With the kind of weather we get in Northern India in December, the ball will certainly do a bit. The pitch seems to be a good one," Dahiya said.
MSD back to domestic cricket
Alur (Karnataka): India's limited-overs captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play his first domestic game for Jharkhand in eight years when they meet J&K in a group B game.
The 34-year-old last played for Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy back in 2007.
Dhoni will play under India’s fast bowler Varun Aaron's leadership in order to prepare for a testing season ahead which includes a limited overs tour to Australia, T20 series against Sri lanka, Asia Cup T20 followed by ICC World T20. One can't also rule out a short series against Pakistan before that which is still pending clearance.