India batter KL Rahul has opted out of the upcoming knockout stage of the domestic 50-over tournament, the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025. He had played all five Tests in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia and has requested rest before the England white-ball series.

India's head coach, Gautam Gambhir, has voiced his desire to see top Indian players make themselves available for the remainder of the primary domestic red-ball event.

Therefore, Rahul's availability for the second phase of the Ranji Trophy, which begins on January 23, will be decided at a later date.  

But Karnataka's Prasidh Krishna, Devdutt Padikkal, and Tamil Nadu all-rounder Washington Sundar will be eligible for the Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinal rounds, which start in Vadodara on Thursday.

Washington, on the other hand, could only pair up with Tamil Nadu if the team advances to the Vijay Hazare Trophy semifinals. He played three matches and scored 114 runs, including a fifty, but only bowled 37 overs in those Tests, as pacers were preferred due to the circumstances. The off-spinner took only three wickets.

Prasidh will be confident after a strong performance in the fifth Test in Sydney, where he took six Australian wickets – 3/42 in the first innings and 3/65 in the second. Devdutt Padikkal played the Perth Test because Rohit Sharma had missed the game after the birth of his second child.

Both Prasidh and Devdutt are scheduled to join the Karnataka squad on January 10, a day ahead of their quarterfinal match against Baroda at Vadodara.

Nitish Kumar Reddy, the find for India on the Australia tour, is likely to play in the second phase of the Ranji Trophy. He has played only one match this season before traveling to Australia.

Andhra has two matches left this season against Puducherry from January 23 and against Rajasthan from January 30.

(PTI inputs)