Rohit Sharma told the Mumbai Cricket Association he will play for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy this December. He will join the team after India’s three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka. "He has informed us that he will be playing for Mumbai," an MCA source said about his return.
The India opener will join Mumbai after the Sri Lanka ODIs. The Indian Express has also reported that he is likely to captain Mumbai Indians in IPL 2027.
Rohit Sharma has told the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) that he will be available for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in December.
The Indian Express understands that he will join after India's three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka at home, from December 13 to 19. The matches are in Delhi, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad, and the first falls a day before the tournament begins.
"He has informed us that he will be playing for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and to consider him available after India's three-ODI series against Sri Lanka at home. How many matches he will be available for, he will inform us later," an MCA source said.
The league stage of the tournament runs from December 14 to 29, with the knockouts from January 2 to 8. The ODIs are followed by three T20Is, from December 22, which Sharma will not play. That leaves him the last ten days of the league stage. India's three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe begins on January 3.
The league games are in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Ranchi and Rajkot, and the knockouts in Visakhapatnam. The last of the three Zimbabwe ODIs is at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on January 9.
It will not be the first time. Last season Sharma made himself available for Mumbai and played two Vijay Hazare Trophy games in Jaipur, his first in the tournament since 2018. He made 155 off 94 balls against Sikkim in the first, and was out for a golden duck against Uttarakhand two days later. Before that he had played 18 matches for Mumbai in the tournament. He now plays one format for India, having retired from T20Is in 2024 and Tests in 2025.
Sharma may soon have a bigger job at his IPL franchise too. The Indian Express has reported that Mumbai Indians are likely to give him back the captaincy for IPL 2027. Under Hardik Pandya, the team lost 10 of 14 games in the last IPL, finished ninth, and the wait for a title is now six years. Sharma led them to five titles, a tally only MS Dhoni matches. A source said he first suggested Tilak Varma's name, but agreed when the franchise asked him to take over.
He is part of the ODI squad for the five-match series in New Zealand, which starts next week. He trained at the MCA-BKC ground a few days ago. India have no ODIs scheduled between the Zimbabwe series and the IPL, and with next year's ODI World Cup ahead, the domestic games would give him match practice.