Saturday 24 March 2018 14:13, UK
India skipper Virat Kohli is set to play county cricket this summer ahead of his side's Test series against England this summer, according to reports.
Kohli - who averaged just 13.40 across 10 Test innings on India's tour of 2014 - has been linked with a County Championship stint in June.
England and India are due to contest three Twenty20 matches and as many ODIs in July, before beginning a five-Test series in August - matches you can watch on Sky Sports Cricket.
The Times of India is reporting that Kohli will team up with Surrey, while the Ahmedabad Mirror says Essex is his likely destination after the Indian Premier League.
Surrey's director of women's cricket, Ebony Rainford-Brent, thinks Kohli's arrival would be great for county cricket, saying: "I would be absolutely ecstatic and I think most people would be.
"Box office players like Kohli will give county cricket a bit of a buzz and it should be celebrated. You want the best people playing and if that turns out to be for Surrey, then so be it.
"Look at Kumar Sangakkara, for example, and the amount the Surrey players soaked up from playing alongside a great like that for the last two years. Hearing they may now be around Kohli, I think the players would be excited by that."
But, Bob Willis disagrees, believing it hampers the growth of young, English talent and allows the Indian Test captain the chance to play his way into form ahead of the series.
"I can't stand overseas players in county cricket," said Willis. "It doesn't benefit the players stranded in the second XI year on year and the youngsters. The only way to improve our Test team is to have as many England-qualified players playing in the County Championship as possible.
"Instead, they're going to pay Kohli, presumably, five figures a match so he can hone his skills in English conditions before a Test series. It's a nonsense.
"He should be made to suffer and average 30 in England as he has done before. We don't want England starting to lose Test matches at home because we're accommodating all of these visiting players."
Any such move for Kohli would mean that the 29-year-old would miss India's inaugural Test against Afghanistan in Bangalore, which will begin on June 14.
Watch India's tour of England live on Sky Sports Cricket this summer.
