The Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025 got off to a sensational start on Wednesday, with thrilling action unfolding across multiple venues. After the Bihar cricket team, powered by three centuries, posted the record highest List A total – 574/6 in Ranchi, the Rohit and Kohli mania gripped Jaipur and Bengaluru, respectively.
While Kohli played behind closed doors at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, Rohit lit up the Sawai Mansingh Stadium as both stalwarts scored hundreds for their respective sides.
Approximately 12000 people gathered at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to see Rohit’s blitz. After Mumbai restricted Sikkim for 236/7, it was the former Indian captain who stole the show with a stunning hundred.
Rohit faced 94 deliveries during his stay in the middle. He swivel-pulled at will, launched effortless sixes straight down the ground, and even swept Sikkim’s pacers. His 37th List A hundred, a scintillating 155 off 93 balls, didn’t just showcase his class but was also pure entertainment. The evening wasn’t about mandates or narratives, but a hero and his fans, fulfilled by 18 fours and nine towering sixes.
Down south, in Bengaluru, Virat Kohli returned to the Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 years and stamped his authority with a stroke-filled hundred. His knock guided Delhi to a 6-wicket victory against Andhra. Chasing 299, Delhi suffered an early hiccup as Arpit Rana fell for a duck. Kohli stepped in and stitched two crucial partnerships – a 113-run stand with Priyansh Arya for the second wicket and then added 160 runs with Nitish Rana for the 3rd wicket.
Kohli smashed 131 off 101 balls, with the help of 14 boundaries and 3 sixes, striking at 129.70. During his innings, completed 16000 runs in List A cricket. Kohli has now become the second-ever Indian batter to score 16,000 or more runs in the history of List A cricket. Sachin Tendulkar was the first Indian to do so and retired after racking up a mammoth 21,999 runs in 551 matches.
The 37-year-old, at the time of publishing this article, was the 9th leading run-getter in List A history, right behind Sanath Jayasuriya.