 "Virat Kohli bats during Delhi's match against Andhra at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru during the 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy. PTI")
Virat Kohli celebrated his return to the Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 long years with a sparkling century on the opening day of the 2025-26 edition of India’s premier domestic List A competition. Kohli brought up the three figure mark – his 58th List A century – in 83 deliveries against Andhra in Bengaluru, helping Delhi recover from a shaky start after being set a challenging 299 to win.
LIVE | Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in action on Day 1 of 2025-26 Vijay Hazare Trophy
Kohli collected 11 fours and three sixes en route to the milestone, helping Delhi gallop towards the challenging target set by the Nitish Kumar Reddy-led side. And in the process, he became only the second Indian and the ninth overall to score 16,000 or more runs in List A cricket (domestic+international 50-over cricket).
Sachin Tendulkar is the only other Indian to have achieved the feat. He currently is the third-highest run-scorer in the format with 21,999 runs in 551 appearances, collecting 60 centuries and 114 fifties in an legendary career spanning more than two decades.
Kohli steadies the ship after shaky start, puts Delhi on path to victory
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru superstar had walked in after Delhi lost their opening wicket with just one run on the board, Arpit Rana getting dismissed for a two-ball duck by all-rounder Reddy.
Former India captain Kohli, however, would steady the ship in the company of opener Priyansh Arya (74 off 44), the two adding 113 for the second wicket in which the latter played the aggressor. Kohli then assumed charge after Arya was dismissed by KS Raju, which brought Nitish Rana to the centre.
Kohli was eventually dismissed on 131 off 101 balls, with the help of 14 fours and three sixes, with Delhi sitting comfortably at 275/3 after 33 overs, needing just 24 more to win with 17 overs and seven wickets in hand.
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View AllKohli was among several centurions on Wednesday, with fellow stalwart Rohit Sharma having also smashed a century during the Mumbai-Sikkim match in Jaipur – his first appearance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy since 2018.
Rohit, however, reached the milestone in quicker time compared to his long-time India teammate, taking just 62 deliveries and putting four-time champions Mumbai in the driving seat after they were set a modest 237 to win by Sikkim.
Rohit was eventually dismissed on 155 off 94 balls (18 fours and 9 sixes), getting caught-behind off Kranthi Kumar’s bowling when 11 runs were left for Mumbai to win. Musheer Khan remained unbeaten on 27 off 26 balls and steered the four-time VHT champions to a commanding eight-wicket victory with nearly 20 overs to spare in the company of his brother Sarfaraz.