The opening day of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 was a spectacle that only modern greats can provide, as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli reminded everyone of their class by scoring brilliant centuries for Mumbai and Delhi respectively on December 24.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s performances did more than just win matches for their respective teams; But he brought experience, confidence and inspiration to the domestic circuit. This masterclass received praise from Harbhajan Singh, who highlighted his immense value in the domestic circuit.
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Harbhajan said that watching modern-day legends like Virat Kohli and Rohit playing domestic cricket is a big encouragement for the young players. He believes that sharing the dressing room with such experienced cricketers helps the youngsters learn and gain confidence and adds to the importance of domestic tournaments.
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“It’s good to see, it’s really good to see that even the big players are coming for a tournament like this. When you go and play with the domestic players, it obviously boosts their confidence as well. Kohli going into the Delhi dressing room is obviously a big learning experience for all those kids sitting there,” Harbhajan Singh said in a video on his YouTube channel.
It is a big lesson for him to see what Kohli does. Similarly, Rohit Sharma has gone to the dressing room of Mumbai. Although Mumbai has always been a very big team and has won a lot, still I think Kohli’s playing and Rohit’s playing is a big thing in itself.
Rohit Sharma’s explosive innings for Mumbai
Rohit Sharma played a breathtaking innings against Sikkim in Mumbai’s opening match in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. He scored 155 runs in just 94 balls with the help of 18 fours and 9 sixes.
Mumbai registered an eight-wicket win over Sikkim on the back of a brilliant innings by the former Indian captain. His impressive innings earned him the Player of the Match award and got Mumbai’s VHT campaign off to a perfect start.
score: 155 runs
Balls: 94
Fours/Sixes: 18/9
strike rate: 164.89
Virat Kohli’s Signature Chase Masterclass
Kohli showed why he remains the ultimate master of chasing. The former Indian captain went at 55/1 and played a brilliant innings for Delhi against Andhra Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 clash in Bengaluru.
Chasing a difficult target of 299 runs, he scored 50 runs in 47 balls and then took his innings forward and scored the next 81 runs in just 54 balls. Kohli took over the innings by playing a stormy innings of 131 runs in 101 balls. His brilliant innings helped Delhi secure a four-wicket win over Andhra Pradesh.
score: 131 runs
Balls: 101
Fours/Sixes: 14/3
strike rate: 129.70
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Why do these centuries matter for the future of Team India?
Meanwhile, Harbhajan Singh believes that Rohit and Kohli scoring centuries is a very positive sign for India keeping in mind the upcoming 2017 World Cup. He stressed that domestic matches are real competitions, not practice sessions, and scoring a century in such circumstances means a lot.
Harbhajan said, “It’s not net practice. Scoring a century here is a big thing in itself. It becomes a habit, a good habit. When you know how to score runs, when you know how to score centuries, it’s a good habit. It doesn’t matter whether you are playing domestic cricket, international cricket or even lesser matches, because that is the thing that takes you forward. And today it is a really big thing for him.”