Virat Kohli to begin rehab as BCCI remain confident of his recovery before England tour

Virat Kohli’s much talked about county stint has suffered a jolt with the Indian skipper sustaining a neck injury. The injury has forced Kohli to cancel his county stint with Surrey and would be following a three-week rehabilitation program at NCA in Bengaluru before taking the fitness test on June 15.

BCCI released a statement regarding Virat Kohli and have clarified that Kohli suffered from a neck strain in his last IPL match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 17 in Bengaluru. However, BCCI was confident of Kohli’s recovery before the series in England. 

“This decision was taken following assessments by BCCI’s medical team, subsequent scans and a visit to a specialist,” the BCCI statement read.

“The BCCI medical team is confident that Kohli will regain full fitness ahead of India’s upcoming tours to Ireland and England.”

With the fitness test scheduled for June 15, Kohli would miss the five one-day matches for Surrey from May 27 to June 6 and also Surrey’s four-day game against Hampshire from June 9. This means only one county game would be left for Kohli against Somerset from June 20. After that India would be facing Ireland in the second T20I on June 29, which Kohli is keen to participate in. 

The injury has raised questions on the workload management of the board for its players. Kohli, despite missing couple of series, has played lots of matches in the past 6 months without much rest.  

BCCI insisted that the injury has been diagnosed at a very early stage and board has kept an eye on the workload of the players. A BCCI official stated that the injury was revealed in a precautionary check-up of Kohli before leaving for the England tour. 

“The workload management system is in place and helped us in injury prevention. Virat just went for a precautionary check-up before leaving for England,” a BCCI official said.

India will play three ODIs and three T20Is against England from July 3, followed by five Test matches. With World Cup slated next year, it would be interesting to see how the Indian skipper manages his workload, given his determination to do well for India abroad.