Virat Kohli's likely schedule in County Championships

Cricketing fraternity in India woke up on Saturday morning to the news of Virat Kohli joining two other Indian cricketers to play county cricket in England this year.

The 29-year-old right-hander is all set to join Surrey in June in preparation for what is really the last frontier for him to conquer- a successful series with the bat on English soil.

The one blip in his Test career thus far remains the awful tour he had in the Old Blighty in 2014, when he could manage only 134 runs in the five Test matches, failing to rise up to the challenge posed by James Anderson and co.

The home ground for the county - The Oval in London - is among the best batting surfaces in the country and so the stint does provide the Indian captain with an opportunity to get some runs under his belt before the tour officially commences in July.

Kohli is likely to skip the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June and could fly to England right after the IPL finishes on the 27th of May.

However, even as the news of him looking to improve on his performances from 2014 in 2018 gives further proof to fierce desire to do well, the schedule in June for the county provides a slightly different story.

In June, Surrey plays their first Specsavers County Championship game against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl between June 9th and 12th.

His second match will be against Somerset between the 20th and the 23rd of June.

The last four-day match of the month will be played against Yorkshire at Scarborough between the 25th and the 28th of June. However, India starts their tour on the 3rd of July so it will be interesting to see whether he would take the gamble of playing the third game.

While there is no doubt that Kohli will get time in between to acclimatize to the conditions on offer, it does beg the question over whether playing two or three matches would help get the match practice that he will need before the tour begins.

Prior to the four-day matches, Surrey will also play three Royal London 50-over cup matches on the 1st, 3rd and the 6th of June.

Kohli's likely schedule in the four-day Championships