Indian skipper Virat Kohli might play India A vs England Lions match

Virat will join Surrey to start his English county stint.

Virat Kohli | IANS

India skipper Virat Kohli is so keen to do well in English condition that he wants no stone unturned before playing England later this year. He is preparing hard for the much important series in whites against his one of the toughest opponents. He has a poor record against England and desperately wants to work on it.

Kohli will be joining the English county team Surrey for which he will be sacrificing India's game against Afghanistan. His county game dates (June 25 to 28) may also clash with India's T20 matches against Ireland (June 27 and 29). Virat is keeping all options open for him.

"The situation is pretty fluid right now. There is an arrangement with Surrey which allows Virat to honor his national commitment. So if he gets sufficient match time in the first two games, we might see him skipping the Yorkshire match and play both T20Is. But then there is no guarantee of English weather," a senior BCCI office-bearer told PTI on condition of anonymity.

"If the weather plays spoilsport in the first two games (Hampshire and Somerset), then obviously, he will play against Yorkshire," he added.

Kohli is also expected to participate in the one-off Test between India A and England Lions at Worcester before the series. But that has raised concern for BCCI as they didn't want their stalwart's body to be affected before the important series because of too much First-Class cricket.

The BCCI might just put in a request to England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to push back the dates of the one-off Test between India A and England Lions at Worcester.

As of now, the India 'A' vs Lions four-day game starts July 16 and on July 17, India senior team play their final ODI game against England at Headingley.

There is a possibility that BCCI might request ECB to start the Lions game from July 19, which will just allow Virat and maybe KL Rahul a chance to get into the Test match mode.

"All we can say at the moment is Virat is playing the three Royal London Cup matches followed by two county games till June 23. Post that, any decision that will be taken will depend on the situation that he will be in," the office-bearer added.

 
 

By Sihyeu Singh - 11 May, 2018

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