Virat Kohli suffers neck injury during IPL 2018, to skip Surrey county cricket stint

India cricket captain Virat Kohli has suffered a neck injury during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match and will not play for English county championship side Surrey next month, the country's cricket board (BCCI) said on Thursday.

Batsman Kohli had signed a one-month deal to represent Surrey in June to prepare for a test series against England this year, but injured his neck while fielding for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Sunrisers Hyderabad last week.

"Kohli, who was scheduled to play for Surrey in the month of June, has been ruled out from participating," the Board of Control for Cricket in India said in a statement.

"This decision was taken following assessments by the BCCI medical team, subsequent scans and a specialist visit. The Team India captain will now undergo a period of rehabilitation under the supervision of the BCCI medical team."

Kohli is scheduled to undergo a fitness test at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru on June 15 and the BCCI expects him to be fully fit for the tour of England.

India begin their tour of England in July with three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals. They then take on the hosts in a five-test series starting in August.

Ajinkya Rahane was earlier this month picked to lead India against Afghanistan, who play their maiden test in Bengaluru in June, keeping in mind Kohli's county commitments. 

Earlier, a media report had said that the Indian cricket captain was diagnosed with a slipped disc.

According to a Mumbai Mirror report, the problem was discovered by a Mumbai orthopaedic surgeon who has also told the cricketer that he may have to miss some part of the England tour.

The daily reported that the Indian skipper visited a Khar Hospital to meet the surgeon on Wednesday afternoon, where he was briefed about his health. 

(With Reuters Inputs)