Five Indian cricketers who should play County Cricket 

After the completion of the Test series against Sri Lanka, off-spinner R Ashwin and batsman Cheteshwar Pujara will travel to England to take part in the last few rounds of the 2017 County Championship.

Before the start of the season, Pujara inked a deal to turn up for Nottinghamshire and played a few matches before joining the Indian team for the Sri Lanka series while Ashwin has agreed to play for Worcestershire in the last few rounds.

World no. 1 Test bowler Ravindra Jadeja could also be a part of the tournament as he is currently holding talks with a few teams, but it is still unclear whom he will play for.

With India set to tour overseas (outside Asia) where the Indian players have struggled to produce results in the past, it won't be a bad idea if few regulars from the Indian side head to England and play County Cricket.

The BCCI should also encourage the players to take part in County Cricket as it will surely help them in getting used to the conditions and improving their game.

Let us take a look at five players who need County Cricket to improve their game away from home.

NOTE: The list does not include the likes of Pujara, Ashwin and Jadeja (likely) as they are set to feature over the next few weeks.

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KL Rahul

KL Rahul has cemented his spot as an opener in the Indian Test team

Opener KL Rahul announced his arrival in international cricket by scoring a brilliant century against Australia at the SCG in 2015. Since then, he is yet to play outside Asia against a top Test team.

In the mean time, he has sealed his spot on the side, thanks to some consistent performances in the last year and a half. He averages 45 after his first 18 matches and has scored eight fifties and four hundreds.

Although most of his runs have come either at home or against weaker opposition away from home, Rahul has shown that he has the temperament and skill to succeed in the longer formats. With India set to tour South Africa, England and Australia in the next year and a half, Rahul is certain to open the innings for Virat Kohli's men in those series.

Without any match experience, barring a couple of two-day warm-up matches against local teams before the start of the series, it will be difficult for the Karnataka batsman to get going against some world-class bowlers in conditions that are alien to the Indian cricketers.

To avoid this, a brief stint with one of the County teams will help Rahul get used to the conditions and improve his game before the team start touring overseas.

Murali Vijay

Murali Vijay is one of India's best Test batsmen

Along with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay is India's best Test player. The right-hander has proved his worth at the top of the order in the last three years and has gone on to become one of the best Test openers in the world.

Though he has been rock solid at the top of the order, his inconsistency is something he should work on. He has the skill to see off the new ball with ease and the temperament to play long innings, but his failure to convert his starts into big hundreds is something he needs to address.

An average of just less than 40 in this format does not do justice to the way he plays, after all, sometimes numbers do lie. The Tamil Nadu opener should work on his consistency when he is not on national duty.

Like Pujara, he plays only one format for India and should consider playing in the County Championships when he is on a break. It will only make him evolve into a better batsman.

Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav has been India's most improved player in the last 18 months

After a string of inconsistent performances since making his debut for India, Umesh Yadav has finally started to mature as a bowler in the longer formats. Without a doubt, Umesh has been India's best bowler since the start of India's home season in 2017.

His recent performances have suggested that he is ready to spearhead the Indian pace department in this format. He still needs to work on certain things to take up the role.

With Umesh certain to play a huge role in India's future Test series away from home, a brief time in England with any one of the counties will only help him improve as a bowler in conditions that are alien to him.

Ishant Sharma

Ishant Sharma should follow in the footsteps of Zaheer Khan

India's senior most fast bowler struggling to find a place in the Test XI because of inconsistency and who is available to join a county team to work on his game is something that we can relate to Zaheer Khan way back in 2006.

He was not a part of the Indian side and moved to the County Championship to play for Worcestershire. When he made a comeback to the national team, he was a completely different bowler and went on to have his best years, helping India win series in England and New Zealand as well as the 2011 World Cup.

This could apply to Ishant Sharma as well as the lanky pacer is struggling to get into the team. In spite of making his debut in 2007, Ishant is yet to cement his place in the Indian team and with the retirement of Zaheer, one would have expected him to replace the left-arm seamer as the leader of the Indian pace attack.

Ishant has to address several issues to get back in to the playing XI. He plays just one format and when he is away from national duty, should go to England to take part in County Cricket, something that will surely help him become a better bowler, if not another Zaheer.

There were reports that he would be representing Warwickshire after the conclusion of the India-Sri Lanka series, but the bowler himself denied the reports.

Contrary to the news rounds through various sites, have not signed Warwickshire or any other county.

— Ishant Sharma (@ImIshant) August 14, 2017

Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is yet to conquer England

In spite of his heroics in the last year and a half, Kohli is still not spoken of in the same breath as modern-day contemporaries Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Steve Smith. Kohli has scored a lot of runs in the last 20 months, but he is still vulnerable to deliveries that swing away from him, something that wasn't a big problem for the Indian skipper in the Indian sub-continent.

Though he scored runs in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, it is still one area that he needs to improve in this format. The opposition captains are using this as a ploy to get him out and if he survives the initial burst, he goes on to make it count.

Kohli struggled when the Indian team toured England in 2014, failing miserably when bowlers used the aforementioned tactic against him.

With India scheduled to tour England next year, Kohli has expressed his desire to play County Cricket to adapt to the conditions in the United Kingdom and improve his game accordingly.