NEW DELHI: In what seems to be a last-moment decision, star batter Virat Kohli will not play Delhi’s Vijay Hazare Trophy match against Railways on Tuesday, January 6, in Bengaluru.As per BCCI guidelines, Kohli had played two matches for Delhi earlier in the tournament, against Andhra and Gujarat. He scored 131 and 77 in those games, helping Delhi register back-to-back wins. After missing the next three matches, there was expectation that Kohli could feature in one more game before joining the India squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting Sunday. That, however, will not happen, and Delhi will play the Railways match without him as they look to stay on top of Group D.

“No, he is not available,” Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh confirmed to Hindustan Times.The BCCI mandate required centrally contracted players to play at least two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches. Kohli fulfilled that requirement with his appearances earlier in the tournament.DDCA president Rohan Jaitley had earlier said last week that Kohli would play the match against Railways.During his two outings for Delhi, Kohli was in form, scoring 131 and 77. In the process, he became the fastest player to reach 16,000 List A runs, achieving the milestone in his 330th innings. He went past Sachin Tendulkar, who reached the mark in 391 innings.The ODI series against New Zealand begins on January 11.Had Kohli played, the Railways match would have seen him face pacer Himanshu Sangwan, who had dismissed him in what turned out to be Kohli’s final red-ball match of his career. Kohli’s absence comes with the New Zealand series close, following his white-ball form last year when he scored 302 runs against South Africa. With Rohit Sharma having already played two matches for Mumbai, both senior batters have now completed their domestic appearances this season.