Virat Kohli’s stint with Surrey called off due to neck injury; BCCI confident India captain will be fit for England tour

Virat Kohli’s much-awaited stint with Surrey is off due to a neck injury he suffered during an Indian Premier League match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad last Thursday.

The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) issued a statement on Thursday afternoon to put to rest all the speculation about the nature of the injury, with some news outlets claiming Kohli had suffered a slip disc. The BCCI release did not clarify about the injury being a slip disc, but said that the BCCI was confident Kohli would be fully fit in time for the testing tour of England.

File image of Virat Kohli. AFP

The BCCI release said: “(Kohli) will now undergo a period of rehabilitation under the supervision of the BCCI Medical team. He will begin training and subsequently undergo a fitness test at the NCA in Bengaluru from June 15. The BCCI Medical Team is confident that Mr Kohli will regain full fitness ahead of India’s upcoming tours to Ireland and England.”

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According to media reports, Kohli had visited a hospital in Mumbai for a check-up on Wednesday.

An unnamed BCCI official, who is privy to Kohli's county engagements, told PTI: "Yes, Virat has had fatigue issues and this is a case of workload management rather than injury management. But it isn't a case of slip disc. As of now, we will be monitoring his workload.

"Yesterday, Virat posted his fitness video as part of the government's 'Fitness Challenge'. I can tell you that the video was shot yesterday," the BCCI source added.

The PTI report had also added that Kohli had only gone to the Mumbai doctor for a precautionary check-up and was not feeling any pain after RCB's final game.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the India captain had been informed that he had suffered a slipped disc (herniated disc) by one of the top orthopaedic surgeons in the country, who practices at a hospital in Mumbai. However, subsequent reports have pointed out that Kohli is not suffering from a slipped disc, only fatigue and a neck sprain.

The Mirror report had even gone to the extent of saying that the doctors had informed Kohli that some spinal nerves had been damaged and there was a risk he would have to miss a part of the Indian team’s upcoming England tour, which starts in July. However, Kohli was reportedly informed that he would not need surgery.

Kohli had chosen to play for Surrey in order to get acclimatised to the conditions in England, where he had a forgettable series in 2014, scoring just 134 runs in 10 innings.

India are scheduled to play two T20Is against Ireland on 27 and 29 June, before three T20Is, three ODIs and five Tests against England before the series ends in September.

Surrey are yet to release a statement on the matter. The cricketer in question himself also did not make a statement.

On Thursday in the midst of media frenzy over his injury, he put up another video on Twitter, which spoke of his stint in the Indian Premier League with Royal Challengers Bangalore. The cricketer apologised to Bengaluru fans for the team’s dismal season, where the failed to make it to the playoffs.

Kohli has had tremendous workload during the past one year starting June 2017. In this phase, he appeared in nine Tests and 29 of the 32 ODIs that the national team played. He also played nine out of India's 18 T20 Internationals.

In all, he played 47 international matches with only Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya (48 each) playing a match more than him. Add to it, the 14 IPL matches and his tally goes up to 61 in all.

(With PTI inputs)