Rohit Sharma recently made India comeback in Australia ODIs and was Player of the Series.
A senior Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official has denied recent media allegations that former India captain Rohit Sharma has made himself available for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy matches.
Rohit Sharma has reportedly made himself available for the Vijay Hazare Trophy match on December 24 and informed the MCA of this.
According to reports, Rohit's choice was influenced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) directive to him and Virat Kohli that they must play local cricket in order to be considered for India's ODI squad.
“The board and team management have conveyed to both of them that they will have to play domestic cricket if they want to play for India. As they both have retired from two formats, they have to play domestic cricket to be match-fit,” a BCCI source told The Indian Express.
However, a Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) official has confirmed that the association has received no such message from Rohit Sharma and refuted the report that stated that Rohit informed the MCA.
“There has been no communication as far as I am aware,” a senior MCA official told news agency PTI.
Mumbai will play seven Vijay Hazare Trophy games between India's ODI series against South Africa, which takes place from November 30 to December 6, and the next home ODIs against New Zealand, which begin on January 11. This will give Rohit ample games to remain match-fit.
The Indian Express report also stated that Rohit wants to play in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament as well. The T20 tournament starts on 26 November.
Rohit Sharma would want to remain match fit and is currently training at MCA’s Bandra Kurla Complex Ground to prepare for the South Africa ODI series. Rohit Sharma now only plays ODIs after retiring from Tests and T20Is and recently appeared in the Australia ODI series.