England bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes has opined that Virat Kohli playing county cricket is a good thing because it will improve the quality of the competition. The Indian captain has signed with the county side for a month-long stint and has decided to sit out of the sole Test against Afghanistan in June.

“It’s great he is going to be playing in England for Surrey. That will only make the competition stronger,” Woakes said.

“Getting guys to play against world-class players like Virat is only good for the county game,” he continued.

Woakes, who is playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in this season’s Indian Premier League, further added that sharing the dressing with Kohli is a great experience since he is very passionate about the game.

“Having to share a dressing room with him has been a great experience. He is passionate about playing cricket for RCB and India as well. Obviously, we expect some good challenges ahead against him this summer back in England.”

There was once a time when Kevin Pieterson was treated as an outcast for his open allegiance with the Indian Premier League. Right now, however, there are 12 English players playing in the tournament – the highest among any foreign countries – and Woakes believes that it is a great learning curve for the English stars.

“I think the fact that we have 12 English players (in the IPL) is a great thing for English cricket. It’s great for us as individuals to have come out here and experience the IPL.”

Chris Woakes has played in only five games for the Bangalore outfit, taking 8 wickets at an expensive economy-rate of 10.36 and an average of 23.75.