India batsman Hanuma Vihari looks forward to maiden county stint, providing COVID-19 holds off

The 26-year-old went unsold at December's Indian Premier League auction and has told a local news agency that he has agreed a four-match deal for this summer

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India batsman Hanuma Vihari is preparing to join up with a county side this summer should the coronavirus outbreak allow the English season to take place.

The 26-year-old has played nine Test matches to date, scoring a half-century on debut during in India's fifth Test defeat at The Oval in September 2018 before reaching three figures and establishing his No.6 spot against the West Indies one year later.

A member of India's champion squad at the Under-19 World Cup in 2012, Vihari now boasts a first-class batting average of 58.13 with 20 centuries to date since debuting for Hyderabad in 2010.

Now, Vihari is eyeing up a maiden stint in county cricket after impressive performances on an India A tour of England in 2018 – including 147 in a 50-over clash with West Indies A in Northampton – saw him rewarded with senior international honours

"I was supposed to play four English county games this season. I would only be able to tell you the name when all the paperwork is complete," Vihari told local news agency PTI.

"Right now, it's on hold due to the unavoidable situation [with the coronavirus pandemic].

"I hope once it's under control, I will be able to play those games. It will be a learning experience for me."

^{Vihari is hoping to follow in the footsteps of Ishant Sharma, who played for Sussex in 2018}

Should a deal be announced, Vihari would become the second current India Test player to agree to a county stint this summer, ahead of the No.1-ranked Test nation playing England in home-and-away five-Test series in 2021.

Yorkshire have already snapped up off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for at least eight County Championship fixtures following the conclusion of his Indian Premier League duties this year.

Vihari may be available to a county side during the early-season IPL window having been released by Delhi Capitals ahead of December's player auction and gone unsold at his base price of INR 50 lakh (£57,000).

However, the seasons of both tournaments remain severely jeopardised by COVID-19, with IPL organisers having last week pushed back the tournament's start date from March 29 to at least April 15, while the ECB and counties are meeting this week to discuss arrangements for the summer in light of the developing pandemic.

India remain set to travel to Sri Lanka in late June for six white-ball international fixtures, with Vihari and his Test colleagues not scheduled for duty again until a trip to Australia following October's T20 World Cup.