When was the last time Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played first-class cricket at the domestic level?
Team India have had a hard time in the last few months. Especially in test cricket, where they were clear swept for the first time at home and then went on to lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well. The poor form of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli was also one of the reasons behind India's poor show.
This has raised questions over the test futures for both Virat and Rohit. Though India don't have any red-ball games until June, that is why a number of former cricketers and cricket pundits have asked these two Indian stalwarts to go and participate in the domestic circuit to get back to their best form.
Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri, who was part of India's BGT trophy win in 2018 and 2021, urged these stars to participate in domestic cricket to regain their form. Irfan Pathan and Sunil Gavaskar also shared their opinions and asked every Indian international star to feature in domestic cricket.
Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir also made a statement during the Sydney press conference about the importance of domestic cricket. Does playing at the domestic level help to regain form? But have you ever thought about when was the last time Rohit or Virat played in domestic cricket?
When was the last time Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma played domestic cricket?
Virat Kohli played ten tests in 2024 and scored 417 runs at an average of 24.52, which is half of his career average. His first test of 2025 saw him scoring 17 and 6 in two innings at the SCG. So, Virat is clearly struggling to manage the requirements of test cricket. But do you know it has been over a decade since he has played a domestic game?
The last domestic match for Virat Kohli was back in 2012 for his state team, Delhi. He played a Ranji Trophy match against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad and scored 14 and 43 across two innings of that game. This was the end of his domestic red-ball career. Since then, he has not returned to Delhi again at the FC level.
If we look at Rohit Sharma, it has been over nine years now. The Test captain featured in his last domestic game back in 2016. It was during a Duleep Trophy match when he played for India Blue. He used to bat in the middle order back then and batted at No. 4 and 3 in two innings, scoring 30 and 32, respectively.
It has been a long time since these two batted at the domestic level. Though playing at the domestic level won't guarantee you gaining the form back, it can certainly help when you spend more time on the crease. Will we see Virat and Rohit playing domestic cricket? It is something that totally depends on both of them.
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