NEW DELHI – A neck injury has dashed Virat Kohli’s hopes of a maiden Countystint with Surrey to prepare for the England Test series starting on August1. The cricket Board said on Thursday that the Indian skipper hurt himselfon May 17, during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s win over SunrisersHyderabad in Bangalore.
The BCCI said in a statement on Thursday that Kohli was assessed by theBCCI medical team and a specialist. He then underwent scans. Kohli willhave rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore and undergo afitness test on June 15. The BCCI is confident that Kohli will be fit tolead in the high-profile Test series in England (Aug 1-Sept 11).
The BCCI though leaves many questions unanswered. Kohli’s personal coach,Raj Kumar Sharma, said ‘it is not very serious’, and said reports of apossible slipped disc was “rubbish”. But Saba Karim, BCCI GM (cricketoperations) was unwilling to say what the injury exactly was. “Details arewith the BCCI physio, but not sure they would like to share with the media.”
The timing of the injury is not explained. Kohli played another game forRCB, against Rajasthan Royals, two days later in Jaipur. He was on thefield and even put in acrobatic stops. When asked, Karim said: “We comeinto the picture only when a cricketer plays for the country,” leaving theonus on RCB management.
A senior BCCI office-bearer questioned the injury-management protocol underthe Committee of Administration that runs the Board. He pointed out thatKohli, under criticism for not leading India in Afghanistan’s inauguralTest starting in Bangalore on June 14, will undergo the fitness test at thesame venue a day after the historic game starts.