Virat Kohli upbeat about county stint ahead of England tour

Bengaluru: India's captain Virat Kohli feels that playing county cricket in England ahead of their tour later this summer will help improve his game. It was confirmed last month that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had granted permission for him to seek a deal.

"Playing county cricket will help me improve my game," Kohli told a news channel. "I think it makes things more challenging and more competitive and there are no guarantees whether you are going to do well even if you go in advance.

"It's just about giving yourself more opportunity to get used to the conditions that you are not used to."

Kohli does not have a good record in England in Tests, managing just 134 runs in five Tests at an average of 13.40 during the 2014 tour.

The 29-year-old batsman, currently leading Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL), has been strongly linked to Surrey but a deal has not been confirmed.

Two of India's senior Test players, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma, are already playing county cricket for Yorkshire and Sussex, respectively.

In England, India have one four-day warm-up match against Essex at Chelmsford, ahead of the five-match Test series that begins on August 1.