Surrey have pulled off an almighty coup by signing Virat Kohli, the India captain and cricket’s premier all-format batsman, for the whole of June.

Kohli had originally declared some 18 months ago his interest in playing county cricket before India’s Test series in England this summer. The 29-year-old will now get his wish with a four-week spell during which he will grace the likes of Beckenham, Guildford and Scarborough.

Described as “the biggest name in world cricket” by Surrey’s director of cricket, Alec Stewart, upon completion of the deal on Thursday, Kohli will be available to play in the club’s Royal London Cup matches during that month and three County Championship fixtures.

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It is the latter, of course, that interest him most as he looks to prevent a repeat of his last outing against the red Dukes ball when, in 2014, he averaged 13.4 over five Tests as India lost 3-1 against England under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Kohli, who will now skip India’s one-off Test versus Afghanistan in mid June, said: “It has long been an ambition of mine to play county cricket. I am thankful to Alec Stewart and Surrey for allowing me the opportunity. I can’t wait to get to the Kia Oval.”

Surrey have just one match at the Oval during Kohli’s stay, with a 50-over fixture at home against Glamorgan on 6 June preceded by games against Kent at Beckenham and Middlesex at Lord’s. His championship appearances will then be versus Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl, Somerset at Guildford and Yorkshire at Scarborough.

The England head coach, Trevor Bayliss, has previously bemoaned a lack of overseas opportunities for his players in first-class cricket and will doubtless have had a wry smile upon learning that Kohli will join the likes of Ishant Sharma (Sussex) and Cheteshwar Pujara (Yorkshire) in getting an early tune-up for the Test series that begins on 1 August.

But Stewart said: “Playing and training alongside Virat will be a massive benefit for our players. 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.”

Kohli’s move came on the same day that India permitted Dinesh Kathik and Hardik Pandya to play for the World XI in a one-off Twenty20 against West Indies at Lord’s on 31 May – a match that is raising money for hurricane‑damaged stadiums in the Caribbean.

Jonathan Trott, the Warwickshire and former England batsman, will retire from cricket at the end of the county season. The 37-year-old was a key member of the England side who won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11 and then rose to No 1 in the world the following summer. He made nine Test centuries – including one on debut – and averaged 44 from his 52 games.

Trott’s England career, one that saw him named ICC player of the year in 2011, was halted when he left the 2013-14 Ashes tour after the opening Test in Brisbane with a stress-related illness. He briefly returned 18 months later but his international retirement came soon after.

Warwickshire’s sporting director, Ashley Giles, said: “Trotty will be remembered as one the greatest batsmen to have played for Warwickshire and England in the 21st century.”

Trott, who signed for the Bears in 2002 having grown up in South Africa, added: “I am very grateful for all of the support that I have received from my fellow players, coaches and management who I have worked with. Choosing to retire at the end of the season is something that I have spoken about at length with my family and this is now the right time to look at the next chapter of my career.”