Injury puts Virat Kohli’s County stint in jeopardy
new delhi — India cricket captain Virat Kohli’s much-hyped participation in the English County Championship was ruled out on Thursday due to a neck injury, throwing his meticulously planned build-up for the tour of UK into disarray.
Kohli will require a three-week rehabilitation to recover from the injury, the BCCI said.
The 29-year-old will undergo a fitness test on June 15, which will confirm his availability for the initial phase of the UK limited-overs tour starting with the two T20 Internationals against Ireland in last week of June. India will begin the series against England with T20Is in early July.
The Indian captain will now undergo a period of rehabilitation under the supervision of the BCCI Medical team. He will begin training and subsequently undergo a fitness test at the NCA in Bengaluru from June 15.
The batting mainstay had decided to miss the one-off Test against Afghanistan, starting June 14 in Bengaluru, to appear in county matches.
Kohli had visited a hospital in Mumbai for a check-up on Wednesday and it was reported that he is suffering from a slip disc injury and will not be playing for Surrey ahead of the UK tour.
However, a top BCCI official, who is privy to Kohli’s county engagements, clarified that it was a case of “neck sprain” and not a “slip disc injury” as reported.
But there was no denying Kohli’s tremendous workload during the past one year.
In this phase, he appeared in nine Tests and 29 of the 32 ODIs that the national team played. He also played 9 out of India’s 18 T20 Internationals.