"Wake up if someone is trying to say that Kohli will skip the IPL" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli reportedly playing county cricket before ENG Tests

Former India player Aakash Chopra has dispelled the rumors about Virat Kohli planning to play county cricket ahead of India's Test series against England later this year. He pointed out that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) player is unlikely to skip Indian Premier League (IPL) games to play domestic cricket in England.

India suffered a 1-3 defeat against Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. Although Kohli scored an unbeaten 100 in India's second innings of the first Test in Perth, he managed only 90 runs in his other eight innings in the series.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra,' the former India opener noted that the first eight rounds of county cricket clash with IPL 2025, thereby virtually ruling out the chances of Kohli using that route to prepare for the Tests against England.

"There was a report that Virat Kohli will go and play county cricket after the IPL so that he gets prepared for the Test series against England. Once this report came, the keyboard warriors spread the news about his commitment. You should check a little when and where the matches are happening," he said (4:20).

"I saw a post from Chandresh Narayanan on X. He asked what you people are doing and he is right. Eight rounds of county cricket will be over by the time the IPL final is played. Wake up if someone is trying to say that Kohli will skip the IPL and prepare for Tests by playing county," Chopra added.

Chopra observed that the ninth round of county cricket starts on June 22 and India's first Test against England starts on June 20. He thereby concluded that Kohli would not be playing county cricket and that unnecessary rumors were being spread.

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"Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should play those two rounds" - Aakash Chopra urges duo to play Ranji Trophy before IND vs ENG 2025 ODIs

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were allowed to skip the Duleep Trophy last season. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra urged Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to play Ranji Trophy games before the ODI series against England.

"However, there is one thing for sure. The next round of the Ranji Trophy is starting on January 23. So both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli should play those two rounds as T20I cricket will be happening at that time. These guys don't play T20I cricket. So play Ranji Trophy cricket," he said (6:05).

The cricketer-turned-commentator opined that the duo might not be given the choice to skip those games and might themselves want to play as well.

"The last time when there was a chance to play first-class cricket, both said - 'We don't need to.' That was the Duleep Trophy which was organized to prepare you for the long Test season. I don't think they would be given the choice now. They might still have the choice but I don't think they will choose to skip it now," Chopra observed.

Chopra noted that it would be wrong even for optics if Rohit and Kohli don't play in the Ranji Trophy. However, he acknowledged that the two games won't make a huge difference as India's next Test is only in June.