Virat Kohli ‘glad he didn’t play county’ when he wasn’t fit

Indian captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri talked to media before their tour to United Kingdom.

The Indian captain returns to the side as the team kicks-off the tour to United Kingdom with a T20I series against Ireland. As the team gears up for a three-month long tour, Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri talked to the media in the pre-departure press conference in New Delhi.

The captain and coach addressed various questions, including the much talked-about ‘Yo-Yo’ tests, and preparation for the English tour. Virat also addressed the question about his missed county-stint with Surrey.

Virat Kohli signed for Surrey and was scheduled to play six matches with the club, but an injury during the later parts of IPL season ruled him out of the stint. However, he looks back at the missed opportunity in a positive way.

“In hindsight, what has happened is the best thing for me,” Virat insisted.

The 29-year old stated that he wanted to be accustomed to traditional “damp and wet” conditions of England. “I wanted to go and look at the conditions because that is the place we haven’t played so much. There’s been a big gap of four years, and you forget how the conditions were last time around,” the captain said.

However, Kohli insisted that he would much rather prefer the current scenario. “If I was 90% fit and playing county in England, as compared to 110% fit now and going in fresh, I would much rather choose the latter,” said Kohli.

“I want to be fresh for the conditions rather than thinking that I’ve been in that place for four months. You don’t want that feeling because the test series is in the later half,” the captain added.

Virat Kohli admitted that it wasn’t intended, but “whatever happened is the best”.