VIRAT KOHLI ’S MUCH-HYPED SURREY DEAL ALL BUT CALLED OFF

Khar

England

Virat Kohli

James Anderson

Afghanistan

Moeen Ali

Jasprit Bumrah

Hardik Pandya

Virat’s workload from June 2017 to May 2018

’s plan to prepare for the Test series against England by signing up for county side Surrey has gone kaput. Non-stop cricket over the last 12 months (see box) has resulted in the Indian skipper suffering from a slipped disc (herniated disc), and the problem was diagnosed by one of the top orthopaedic surgeons in the country, who practices at a Khar hospital.The injury has come at a time when Kohli went out of his way to ensure watertight preparations for the tour to England – a country where he struggled in 2014, when he managed a measly 134 runs in five Test matches at an average of 13.4. Such was Kohli’s struggle against the swinging ball, that he fell to England’s pace spearheadfour times in that series.Mirror has learnt that Kohli visited the Khar Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, where the orthopaedic surgeon and his team briefed him about his reports. The doctors told Kohli that there has been some damage to the spinal nerves, and there was a chance he may have to miss some part of the England tour, beginning July, if the injury worsened. The doctors, however, were certain that Kohli didn’t need surgery at this stage.While Kohli was not available for comment, a BCCI official who is aware of the prognosis said the Board was relieved that its biggest Box Office draw wouldn’t need surgery. “Kohli was not to feature in the historic maiden Test match againstnext month, and now with this injury, his county stint will not take off either,” the official said. During the recent series in South Africa, Kohli had to miss a one-day international due to a neck strain.Kohli missing out on a county stint will disappoint the England fans as much as the man himself. Recently, England international, when asked about Kohli’s impact on the county scene, told The Spin (The Guardian’s weekly cricket email): “If anyone in that (Surrey) dressing room does think they are a big dog, they will need to sit down for a little while because there is a proper big dog coming.”Kohli is one of the players whose workload is of concern for the BCCI and Team India Head Coach Ravi Shastri (the others being pace bowlerand all-rounder). Over the next 18 months starting with the tour to England and the World Cup, Team India will have only 14 days of proper rest. This newspaper has learnt that Kohli has conveyed to the Surrey County Cricket Club about his unavailability, but the county officials were not aware of such a development at the time of going to press.Played all 9 Tests that India featured in during this periodFeatured in 29 of the 32 ODIs and 9 of the 18 T20Is that India played in the last 12 monthsFeatured in 47 out of 59 international matches played by India in this period. Only Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya have played more matches for India in the last one year (48 each)STATS BY RAJNEESH GUPTA