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Kohli could look to county cricket ahead of 2018 England tour
Virat Kohli has been unveiled as the latest cover star of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack, following his leading role in India’s clean sweep of trophies in all three formats of their recent series against England.
Kohli, who made two centuries in India’s 4-0 Test series win before Christmas, including a career-best 235 in the fourth Test at Mumbai, is pictured playing a reverse sweep – a reflection, according to Wisden’s editor, Lawrence Booth, of the manner in which he has helped to revolutionise the sport in recent years.
Kohli’s reverse-sweep adorns the cover of Wisden 2017 © Wisden
“It underlines the fact that he is a very modern cricketer,” Booth told ESPNcricinfo. “It felt like the right time to get some unorthodoxy onto the cover. People often think of Wisden as a bastion of orthodoxy, but cricket is changing so rapidly that it felt like the right time to reflect that, and Kohli was the right man for the job.”
Kohli is the third cricketer of Asian extraction to feature on the front cover in the past four editions. His former India team-mate Sachin Tendulkar was honoured in 2014 following his retirement from international cricket, while England’s Moeen Ali was the cover star for 2015.
Kohli is the stand-out contender to be named as Wisden’s Leading Player of the Year, an accolade that dates back to 2004, when Ricky Ponting was the original recipient.
“Kohli will be fresh in the mind of all cricket fans after his performances against England,” Booth said. “He has pulled clear of the likes of Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson and AB de Villiers, and is clearly the most exciting all-format batsman in world cricket.”
However, Kohli has not yet been named as one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year, the book’s oldest honour that can only be bestowed once in a player’s career and tends to reflect a player’s impact on the preceding English season.
Kohli’s record in England does not yet match his overall impact on the sport – his only previous Test appearances in the country came in 2014, when he made 134 runs in five Tests at 13.40 in England’s 3-1 series win.
However, he seems intent on making amends when India next tour England in 2018, and admitted last year that he would consider a stint in county cricket to acclimatise himself properly for the challenge.
The 2017 edition of Wisden will be published in April, to coincide with the start of the English season.
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo