India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been appointed as the captain of Delhi for the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy, which begins on December 24 in Bengaluru.
Delhi’s squad receives a significant boost with the inclusion of batting stalwart Virat Kohli, alongside senior pacers Ishant Sharma and Navdeep Saini. The BCCI has mandated that India players with central contracts participate in domestic cricket, so seam-bowling all-rounder Harshit Rana will join the Delhi team once he becomes available, as confirmed by the DDCA.
The senior men’s selection committee convened at the Arun Jaitley Stadium to finalize Delhi’s squad from a long list of probables announced earlier. The meeting was attended by selectors Yashpal Singh, K. Bhaskar Pillai, and Manu Nayar, along with chief coach Sarandeep Singh, CAC member Robin Singh (Jr.), secretary Ashok Sharma, and joint secretary Amit Grover.
Delhi will kick off its Elite Group D campaign in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with matches against Andhra and Gujarat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, which is Kohli’s home ground when playing for his IPL team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The team is also set to play its remaining five games at the Alur Cricket Ground on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Kohli returns as the Player of the Series from the 2-1 ODI series victory over South Africa, while Pant is eager for game time after remaining an unused player in the 50-over fixtures against the Proteas. Both players will be available for Delhi until India’s ODI series against New Zealand, scheduled from January 11-17, 2026. Kohli last participated in the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi during the 2009/10 season.
Batting all-rounder Ayush Badoni has been named vice-captain. The squad for the first two matches includes Arpit Rana, Yash Dhull, Sarthak Ranjan, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi Singh, Nitish Rana, Hritik Shokeen, Harsh Tyagi, Simarjeet Singh, Prince Yadav, Divij Mehra, Ayush Doseja, Vaibhav Kandpal, Rohan Rana, and Anuj Rawat.
Ranjan and Tejasvi recently secured IPL 2026 deals after being acquired by three-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the recent auction held in Abu Dhabi. Delhi clinched the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2012/13 season and finished as runners-up in 2015/16 and 2018/19 seasons.