'Bowling at Kohli is like bowling at England at the moment' – Sam Curran
Sam Curran made his Test and one-day international debut for England this year and looks set to make his Twenty20 International debut as well in the upcoming three-match T20I series against India. Curran, who plays for Surrey and was expecting to play alongside Virat Kohli in the County Championship before the Indian captain's stint was cancelled due to a neck injury, said that bowling to Kohli will be like what many teams think bowling to England is.
“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 said. “Bowling at Kohli is probably like what other teams think bowling at England [is like] at the moment. They are special, particularly on these wickets.”
Curran admitted that his team-mates at Surrey were gutted at not being able to play alongside Kohli. “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.”
At 20, Curran had already played 43 T20 games, scored 443 runs and picked up 40 wickets before making his Test debut against Pakistan and ODI debut against Australia in June. A left-arm medium pace bowler and a left-handed batsman, Curran sees himself in the Ben Stokes mould.
“I grew up as a batter who bowls and, as I've got older, I've become a bowling all-rounder now,” Curran said. “But I definitely I see myself at four, five or six, especially in one-day cricket. Maybe a bit like Stokesy does for England, I could see myself doing that at Surrey.”
Within the span of two months, life has changed for Curran, having catapulted him from a first-class cricketer – he has played 40 first-class matches and has 109 wickets to his name – to Tests and subsequently to ODIs and T20Is. Curran described the experience as ‘surreal’.
“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 roller-coaster and just try to enjoy it,” he said.
“Watching Jimmy and 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.”
England play India in a three-match T20I series starting 3 July at Old Trafford. India come into the series on the back of a 2-0 whitewash of Ireland, while England are high on confidence after sweeping Australia 5-0 in the ODI series and winning the one-off T20I.
