Virat Kohli has been under fire for his poor performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Pressure is also mounting on him to retire. Meanwhile, it has emerged that Kohli may play county cricket in preparation for the Test series against England in June 2025.
Virat Kohli can play county cricket only if Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) do not make it to the playoffs of IPL 2025. Earlier, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir also emphasized the importance of domestic cricket.
The IPL final will be played on May 25
According to media reports, Virat Kohli will play county cricket, but only if RCB does not make it to the playoffs. The final of IPL 2025 will be played on May 25 and the first Test match between India and England will start from June 20 in Leeds. If Bangalore reach the final, Kohli will have just 14 days to adapt to England conditions and play county cricket. This may prove insufficient for good preparation.
Pat Cummins did this
In the past, some international cricketers left franchise cricket to improve their game at the international level. Pat Cummins did this in 2023, when he took a break from IPL 2023 to prepare for the World Test Championship final against India. His break also proved to be a good one as under his captaincy Australia defeated Team India by 209 runs and won the World Test Championship.
RCB retained Virat for 21 crores
For IPL 2025, RCB retained Virat Kohli for Rs 21 crore. This makes him the fifth most expensive player of IPL 2025. Kohli will lead Bangalore’s batting lineup, so his absence is likely to weaken RCB’s squad. In this scenario, there is very little hope that Virat Kohli will miss the whole or half of the IPL 2025 season.
