Kohli signs with Surrey

Virat Kohli will join Surrey for the month of June, ahead of India’s tour of England, the County club announced yesterday. The Indian skipper will be available to play all three formats for the club during his stint. “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. I can’t wait to get to the Kia Oval,” said the Indian skipper on the signing.

Kohli becomes the fifth Indian this year to participate in cricket in England alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel and Varun Aaron, who have signed deals at Yorkshire, Sussex, Durham and Leicestershire respectively. Kohli’s first game is likely to be against Middlesex in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

“We are thrilled to have signed the biggest name in world cricket for the month of June,” said Alec Stewart, Surrey’s Director of Cricket. “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,” he added. Kohli, who is currently leading the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, has scored 5554 runs in Tests, averaging 53.40, while his 9588 runs in ODIs have come at an even better average of 58.10. He also has won the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC World Cricketer of the Year in 2017, and had led India to the top of ICC’s Test rankings with 21 Test wins from 34 matches. He was also named Wisden’s Cricketer of the Year in 2017 and was named the captain of the ICC Test and ODI Teams of the Year.