ENG vs IND 2018: I would gladly pay to watch Virat Kohli bat: Alec Stewart

Virat Kohli’s much-hyped county stint did not materialise in the end because of a neck injury. To prepare himself for the England tour, Kohli had signed up with county outfit Surrey for June.

Such was his desperation to get used to the conditions that he gave the one-off Test against Afghanistan a miss. However, his hopes got dashed due to a neck injury he suffered during the Indian Premier League 2018. As a result, he had to undergo rehabilitation to regain fitness.

However, Kohli had later said taking rest was the best thing that could have happened to him.

“In hindsight, not playing county cricket was the best thing to happen at that moment. Although I wanted to experience the conditions, that’s a place where we haven’t played so much. There is a big gap of four years. I wanted the damp conditions to acclimatise,” he had said ahead of leaving for UK.

“But when I look at it now, if I was 90 per cent with my body attempted to get used to the conditions, now I am 110 per cent and I would much rather be in this position. I need to be fresh, and that was the best thing to happen. I am excited to go on the field again,” he had added.

And now former England captain and county’s Director of Cricket Alec Stewart has said that whether the rest has helped Kohli or not would only be discovered after the end of the Test series.

“Virat has played only a limited number of (Test) matches in England and his record is nowhere near the high quality he has achieved everywhere else around the world. So only he can answer (if rest helped him more) and we will know at the end of this series,” Stewart told PTI.

Stewart, who had played a big role in landing Kohli the county deal, further said that a fit India skipper would have been beneficial for both the parties.

“In my conversation with him (Kohli), we told him that we very much wanted him at Surrey for that month (May), and he told us he wanted to be here. It would have helped Surrey and it would have definitely helped Virat as well. But circumstances around that neck injury meant that he had pull out at the last moment,” said Stewart.

The legendary batsman went on to say that playing limited overs matches before the Test series will help Kohli. He also backed Kohli to get success with the bat this time around.

“(But) He has had the white-ball internationals to get ready for the Test series. When you have the quality of Virat, you adjust accordingly and I expect him to have a big impact on the Test series. His record here cannot get worse, it can only improve and world-class players find a way of succeeding in tough conditions,” he said.

“As much as people will be scrutinizing his record leading into this Test series, I expect him to succeed. I am lucky enough come watch cricket and not buy a ticket. But I would gladly pay to watch Virat bat,” he added.

In 2014, Kohli had endured a torrid time, scoring only 134 runs from 10 innings as India had lost the series 3-1. He scored 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20 in the five Tests and finished the series with an average of 13.50.

However, Kohli has come a long way since that disastrous tour. He is arguably the best batsman in the world right now and has already proved himself in Australia and South Africa. During the tour of Australia in 2014-15, he had slammed four hundreds in four Tests.

The Indian captain has since also scored six double hundreds including four in successive series. Against England in the five-Test series at home, Kohli scored 655 runs and led India to a 4-0 triumph. He was also in top form in South Africa, smashing 871 runs across formats. He was the leading run-scorer in the Test and ODI series. The right-handed batsman will now be eager to leave his mark in England too.