India vs England: Sam Curran Eager to Test Himself Against Virat Kohli

Cricketnext Staff | Updated: July 2, 2018, 10:06 AM IST

Sam Curran (AFP)

Having missed his opportunity to learn from Virat Kohli — the India skipper pulled out of his Surrey stint due to injury — England pacer Sam Curran is now looking forward to the challenge of bowling at the run-machine as the two teams clash in the opening T20I at Old Trafford on Tuesday. Handed Test and ODI debuts recently, Curran would in fact complete the hat-trick if picked in the playing XI in the series opener.

"I was pretty excited when he was meant to be my team-mate at Surrey and I was expecting to be laughing at the other county bowlers," Curran was quoted on Cricinfo. "Now if I get the chance it'll be my chance to get taken down! It'll be fun.

"You want to play against these big names and test yourself, find out where you need to improve. All the Surrey boys were gutted he didn't come because we were expecting some big crowds and learning the way he trains, apparently he's a freak in the gym, so it would have been special to work with him."

Curran has made no bones about the fact that Kohli is a special player and even compared him to the in-form English batting line-up at present. "Bowling at Kohli is probably like what other teams think bowling at England at the moment," he said. "They are special, particularly on these wickets."

Talking of his own journey from county to international cricket, Curran said: "It's been a pretty special couple of weeks. Wouldn't have thought it at the start of the summer, thought I'd just deal with my Surrey stuff but that's how things go, you just get on a roll and ride the rollercoaster and just try to enjoy it. Watching Jimmy (James Anderson) and Broad (Stuart Broad) on the sofa and then next thing I know I'm stood at mid-on watching while they are steaming in. It's pretty surreal. I won't forget it."