Vijay Hazare Trophy: Shreyas Iyer to play two matches for Mumbai in January

MUMBAI: India's ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, India's T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav and allrounder Shivam Dube will all feature in Mumbai's last two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches on Jan 6 & 8, TOI has learnt.“Iyer has informed us that he has got the clearance from the Centre of Excellence (COE) today to play in the Vijay hazare Trophy. Shreyas, Surya and Dube will all reach Jaipur tomorrow (Sunday) and play for Mumbai in the last two VHT matches (against Himachal on Jan 6 and Punjab on Jan 8)," Mumbai Cricket Association secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar told TOI on Saturday. Iyer successfully completed his first 50-over return-to-play (RTP) match simulation on January 2, 2026. The Mumbai game against Himachal Pradesh will now be the batter's second RTP match, scheduled as part of the clearance protocol laid out by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Only after completing both match simulations without any setbacks will Iyer be considered fully fit for the New Zealand series.Out of action for the past three months due to a severe abdominal injury, Iyer returned to the Indian team for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, with his "availability subject to fitness clearance from BCCI COE," as per a BCCI statement on Saturday, while announcing the Indian team for the series.The 31-year-old suffered a serious injury on October 25, 2025 while attempting to take a diving catch in the third India vs Australia ODI in Sydney to dismiss Alex Carey. He was admitted to a Sydney hospital for a laceration of the spleen with internal bleeding. The injury forced him to miss three months of international cricket, which meant that he wasn't a part of the Indian team for the home ODI series against South Africa.As part of his rehabilitation, Iyer reported to the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on December 25, entering the final phase of his recovery. Since then, he has shown steady progress in strength and conditioning and has completed four high-intensity skill sessions involving both batting and fielding. The match-simulation sessions were designed as the last hurdle before competitive clearance.Chief selector Ajit Agarkar had told all the India players who took part in the recently held T20I series against South Africa that they have to play two matches in VHT.India’s next T20I series will begin from Jan 21 against New Zealand at home.Rahane to rest from VHTMeanwhile, it's learnt that former India and Mumbai captain Ajinkya Rahane will miss the league stage of VHT. "He has opted to rest and recover. He will be available for the second leg of the Ranji Trophy," a source said.