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India's Test captain Virat Kohli has decided to take a break following the gruelling home series against South Africa even as teammates Shikhar Dhawan and Ishant Sharma will play for Delh in their opening group league match of the Vijay Hazare Trophy One-day tournament against Baroda, in Delhi, on Thursday.
Delhi's chief coach Vijay Dahiya confirmed that both Shikhar and Ishant are available for the game.
"Virat is not playing in this game. We had already kept a standby (Vaibhav Rawal). Shikhar and Ishant trained with the other boys this morning and are available for this game. We do not have any fitness issues either," Dahiya said, ahead of the match which will feature Baroda's famed Pathan brothers, Irfan and Yusuf.
Asked if skipper Gautam Gambhir will bat down the order now that Shikhar will be playing, Dahiya replied, "No, Shikhar and Gautam will open the innings. Unmukt (Chand) will come in at No.3."
Expressing happiness with the pitch, he felt the white Kookaburra ball will assist the seamers on a chilly December morning at the Feroz Shah Kotla, which recently hosted the fourth and final Test against South Africa, which India won by 337 runs.
"With the kind of weather we get in Northern India in December, the ball will certainly do a bit. The pitch seems to be a good one," Dahiya said.
He also welcomed the idea of having a zonal format for the tournament.
"It's a nice thing to be playing top teams from the start. I guess all the players are happy with this change of format which gives them an opportunity to test their skills against best from the start.
"Baroda is a good team with Ambati Rayudu, who is a current India player, both the Pathan brothers and Deepak Hooda. They are good opposition to face first up," said Dahiya.
IMAGE: India's Shikhar Dhawan bats in the nets.
Photograph: Shailendra Bhojak/PTI