Virat Kohli’s reactions said a lot © BCCI
India’s captain Virat Kohli’s much-anticipated county stint is likely to be curtailed to two first-class matches, if not cancelled altogether, with the team management looking to preserve him for the all-important Tests against England. “The workload had started to show towards the end of the IPL,” a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. “The BCCI medical team has advised him to be careful with how much he plays in the lead-up to the Test series. The Test series is our topmost priority.”
On Thursday, Mumbai Mirror reported that Kohli saw an orthopaedic surgeon in suburban Mumbai, who diagnosed a herniated disc, which could lead to his missing the Test series in August if he is not careful with his workload. The BCCI official, though, said there was no injury – nothing as serious as a herniated disc at any rate – and that this was just a preventive measure to better manage his workload in the lead-up to the series.
Kohli had signed the county deal with Surrey after long deliberation, which also caused friction within the board because it meant he will miss India’s Test against Afghanistan in June. When the deal was signed, Surrey announced he was going to be with them for the whole month of June, but India picked him for the T20Is against Ireland, which will be played in the last week of the month and will clash with his third first-class match for Surrey. A late realisation was that he was expected to play even domestic one-dayers, five of them.
“There is no way now he is going to play 17 days of cricket in one month, you can forget about that,” the BCCI official said. “As of now, he is likely to play the first two first-class matches, then recuperate and then join the team in Ireland.”
Surrey are yet to be apprised of the development. After the Ireland T20Is, India will play the limited-overs formats in England before the Test series, which starts on August 1.
Kohli’s preparation for the England tour has been a matter of interest because he had a forgettable Test series there in 2014, scoring 134 runs in 10 innings. Also, the India coach Ravi Shastri and CoA chairman Vinod Rai have acknowledged the preparation for the South Africa tour earlier this year was not adequate.
Sidharth Monga is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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