Kohli confirms Surrey stint before England tour

MUMBAI: English county Surrey have confirmed signing up Indian skipper Virat Kohli for the month of June. 

Kohli will become the fourth Indian player to feature in county cricket this year after Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma and Varun Aaron. 

Kohli, Pujara and Ishant are aiming to utilize these games as an opportunity to warm up and get acclimatized to conditions in England before India take on the hosts in an iconic 5-match Test series later in the summer, ESPNcricinfo reports.

Kohli will be available for all Surrey cricket throughout June, beginning with Royal London Cup 50-over matches against Middlesex - an opening match at Lord's for India's captain - and Glamorgan and three Championship matches against Hampshire (which will feature a match-up with Dale Steyn), Somerset and, finally, Yorkshire where there will not be a guest house room to be had in Scarborough.

"It has long been an ambition of mine to play county cricket and I am thankful to Alec Stewart and Surrey for allowing me the opportunity to join them during their 2018 season," Kohli said. "I can't wait to get to the Kia Oval."

Kohli owes much of this opportunity to BCCI’s changed stance because of the Committee of Administrators head Vinod Rai, who has been quoted in media as having said that it was upto the players to decide to opt for a county cricket stint to prepare for England over playing the Afghanistan Test match around the same time. 

"Afghanistan is playing versus India and not Virat Kohli. No player (Cheteshwar Pujara especially) will be called back from UK to play versus Afghanistan. Priority is England and to do well there, so, whatever it takes," Rai was quoted saying. 

While Kohli will hope that this stint would help him improve his miserable Test record in England, through this deal the host nation would want India to soften their stance in allowing more players to feature in English domestic cricket and make it more lucrative and popular. 

Alec Stewart, Surrey's director of Cricket, said: "We are thrilled to have signed the biggest name in world cricket for the month of June. Playing and training alongside Virat will be a massive benefit for our players who will have the opportunity to learn so much from him.

"At a time when there is much discussion around the future of county cricket, the arrival of Virat should give our domestic game a massive boost and positive exposure around the cricketing world which in turn can benefit every county."

Surrey is the wealthiest professional club in England. In previous seasons, they had signed on champion players such as Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara as overseas players. It is yet to be confirmed if Australia’s banned duo of Steve Smith and David Warner join the list this season alongside Kohli.