New Delhi: The national selection committee’s decision to name India skipper Virat Kohli for the two-match T20 series against Ireland has created confusion as it is clashing with his county commitments for Surrey.
There were rumours in the BCCI corridors that the section which wasn’t happy with Kohli skipping the one-off Test match against Afghanistan, has played a role in cutting short his county stint in favour of the T20 Internationals against the minnows.
India are set to play two T20s against Ireland in Dublin’s Malahide (June 27 and 29) while Kohli’s last county engagement for Surrey against Yorkshire will take place at Scarborough, June 25 to 28.
The county had earlier put a statement on its website which said: “India captain Virat Kohli will play for Surrey during the entire month of June.”
When chairman of selectors MSK Prasad was contacted by this agency, Wednesday for a clarification whether it was a clerical error, he said: “Kindly talk to the BCCI secretary on this issue.”
When BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary was asked, he replied: “Be rest assured, everything is fine.”
However, there has been no clarity as to what will be Kohli’s choice as he gets to play only three four-day matches during his stint.
“If the selectors have picked him for the Ireland T20s despite the county dates being made public, it means that he will not play the game against Yorkshire. This cannot be a unilateral decision as the county contract has been inked after much deliberation. It will be very interesting to know why there has been a change in Virat’s schedule if England Tests are of paramount importance,” wondered a senior BCCI official.
Whether Surrey would agree to the new arrangement is another question because the contract was signed after a lot of deliberations regarding Kohli’s image rights.