BIRTHDAY boy Haseeb Hameed plans to limited overs cricket for Lancashire this summer, and has received backing from Virat Kohli.

Hameed, who is 20 today, has made a stunning start to life as a first-class cricketer, scoring four Championship hundreds for the Red Rose side and two fifties in three Test matches for England.

But he is determined to prove he has more strings to his bow by playing in the Royal London One-Day Cup and the NatWest T20 Blast.

And he has been given a significant boost by the best in the business India captain Kohli.

Shortly after Hameed broke his finger in December, Kohli spoke to the ex-Bolton School pupil about all aspects of batting, including how to play against the white ball.

“I’m pretty keen to play white ball cricket this year, definitely,” said the opener, who has yet to make his senior limited overs bow.

“I’ve never been one to set limits on what you can achieve.

“I don’t see it as setting yourself an unbelievable task to play all three formats. You’ve seen guys like Joe Root doing it successfully.

“I’m hoping I can continue to develop towards that, and I’m confident I’ve got the game to do that.

“That was something that was reassuring from Virat and gave me a lot of confidence.

“He genuinely felt I’ve got the ability to play all three formats, and to hear that from someone who has been unbelievable in all three formats is quite inspiring. Hopefully I can prove that to be the case.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to has reassured me that it’s not a case of seeing you as a one format specialist.

“I’ve not had the chance to sit down with the coaches (at Lancashire) since I’ve been back, but I’m hoping to work hard over the next two or three months to get the chance in the RL Cup.”

Hameed, who impressed against the white ball in his days as an England under-19s cricketer, is back in training with Lancashire ahead of his tour of Sri Lanka with the Lions next month.

And he has given his backing to the new coaching partnership of first-team coach Glen Chapple and his assistant Mark Chilton.

The pair currently hold the acting titles, but they are set to be made permanent appointments.

“To have two guys who have done it recently for Lancashire is exciting,” he added.

“I’m really looking forward to cracking on and working with the guys here.

“Hopefully this will bring us closer as a group. We are already a tight-knit group, but things like this make us even tighter.”