Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli will not feature in Delhi's Vijay Hazare Trophy fixture against Railways on Tuesday (January 6).

As per the BCCI mandate, Kohli turned up for Delhi in a couple of matches against Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. He looked in fine touch, returning with scores of 131 and 77 respectively in those games.

Although Kohli was supposed to play one more match for Delhi before joining the national side for the ODI series against New Zealand, Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh confirmed the star batter’s unavailability.

"No, he is not available," Singh quoted as saying by Hindustan Times on Monday.

Earlier, Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley stated that Virat Kohli had given his availability for three games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

"As of now, he is playing. Virat has given his availability for three games," Jaitley had told PTI.

On his VHT return against Andhra Pradesh, Virat Kohli had added a significant milestone to his illustrious career, becoming the quickest player in history to reach 16,000 List A runs. He achieved the feat in his 330th innings, comfortably bettering Sachin Tendulkar’s mark of 391 innings.

The Indian ODI squad is due to assemble in Vadodara by January 8 for the New Zealand series. However, multiple reports have suggested that Kohli could reach the city a day earlier to begin his preparations.

The three-match ODI series between India and New Zealand is slated to get underway on January 11 at BCA Stadium, Vadodara.

Having belted 302 runs in the preceding series versus South Africa, Kohli would want to continue his purple patch in white-ball contests against the Kiwis and further strengthen his place in India’s squad for the 2027 ODI World Cup.