Virat Kohli rules out of county participation due to neck injury
Virat Kohli's county ambitions came to an abrupt end after a neck injury has ruled him out for the county season, where he was supposed to head following IPL. Revealing the news, the Indian skipper stated that it was an important rehabilitation period for him and he has to listen to his body now.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli's plan to play with Surrey in county championship to hone his skills ahead of the five-Test series against England took a huge blow on Thursday as he had to pull out owing to a neck injury. It was during an IPL game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 17 when Kohli had suffered the injury. And although there were speculations that the player was suffering from a herniated disc, BCCI media release ended it by confirming his state and county status.
The BCCI medical team has assessed the Indian captain and following subsequent scans and a special
"He will begin training and subsequently undergo a fitness test at the NCA in Bengaluru from June 15. The BCCI Medical Team is confident that Kohli will regain full fitness ahead of India's upcoming tours to Ireland and England," the release affirmed.
Kohli has played all the nine Tests that India featured since June 2017. He also took part in 29 of the 32 One-Day Internationals and nine of the 18 T20Is played in the last 12 months, overall featuring in 47 of the 59 international games that India partook in. In addition, he played the entire season of the IPL, as the skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 11th edition, where they finished sixth on the point table.
The injury, unfortunately, came at a time when Kohli was all set to travel to England – a country where he struggled in 2014, managing to score only 134 runs in five Tests at an average of 13.4. His struggle against the swinging ball has been a concern as he fell prey to England’s pace spearhead James Anderson four times in that series. The county could have helped him get acclimatized to the English conditions over the historic Afghanistan Test back home.
Talking about his injury, Kohli noted that the timely break would help him prepare for the challenges ahead. "Times like these are important going ahead. I am enjoying it. I do not think I am missing out on anything, because my body really needed this. I have started to listen to my body."
Kohli's workload has been an area of debate in the past as well when the Indian captain had forwarded his concern earlier this year to the selection committee which resulted in resting him for the tri-nation Nidahas Trophy played in March in Sri Lanka.
