Virat Kohli to prefer T20I’s against Ireland over county outing with Surrey

SportsCafe Desk
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Virat Kohli is more likely to participate in the two T20I’s lined up against Ireland in June, rather than an extra county game for Surrey, after he was included in India's T20I squad. The BCCI had previously stated that there was no commitment from Kohli to play all the county games for Surrey.

A host of Indian players including the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Axar Patel and Virat Kohli have all made the decision to travel to England for a stint in the English County Championship. County team’s like Surrey, Yorkshire and Durham have roped in Indian players in a bid to strengthen their squad and challenge for the championship this year.

But after being included in the squad for the two T20I’s to be played against Ireland, Indian skipper Virat Kohli has a decision to make on whether to play for his country against Ireland or go out on the pitch for Surrey. As per reports, Kohli is most likely to feature for the Indian T20 team as opposed to featuring in the third match for Surrey in the championship.

It is understood that BCCI officials are in talks with higher level authorities in England to resolve the issue as soon as possible. It might not be that difficult to convince Surrey because they are already believed to be under fire from former England players for providing Kohli match-practice ahead of India's tour of England in July.

The basic understanding is that if Kohli gets an appropriate amount of game time in his first two Surrey games then the priority for him would be the two T20I’s against Ireland in June. However, county side Surrey are of the view that Kohli will miss the first T20I against Ireland, play in Scarborough, and then make it for India's second T20I the next day.

Prior to the T20I matches against Ireland, the BCCI had announced an India A tour of England was organised in June before the Tests, and though no Test players were named in the A squad, there was a chance that some Test players. Including Kohli, could be named in the preliminary squad. India's chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said they had a discussion with the team management and India A coach Rahul Dravid regarding the same.

"Some of the Test specialists like Saha, Vijay, Shami will play the third India A Test against West Indies A before playing the warm-up game against Essex and then the England Tests," Prasad said.

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