Did Virat Kohli really ask Kyle Jamieson to bowl with Dukes ball in RCB nets? New Zealand all-rounder answers
New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson clears the air as to whether Virat Kohli really had asked the all-rounder to bowl to him with the Dukes ball at RCB nets earlier this year.
New Zealand speedster Kyle Jamieson stole the show in the ICC World Test Championship final with his spectacular bowling against India in Southampton. The 26-year-old returned seven wickets in the match, including a five-wicket-haul in the first innings, helping his team become world champions.
Besides his bowling, Jamieson became the talk of the town for getting the better of Virat Kohli in both innings. Both players have seen each other closely in the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) camp in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, but it was the RCB skipper who found himself at the receiving end.
While the league was underway, there were reports that Kohli had asked Jamieson to bowl to him with Dukes ball – the one which was used in the WTC Final – in the nets. Something around these lines was spoken by RCB all-rounder teammate Dan Christian last month and it had made headlines then. However, the Kiwi bowler has refuted the reports. While speaking with Sporting news, Jamieson said the interaction between him and Kohli wasn't as interesting as it was made out to be.
“No, it wasn’t so much him asking. I think it was Dan just sort of adding some stuff for a good story. We were just talking about it at the start of the IPL with the cricket coming up with our UK tour and theirs as well and I mentioned that I had some Dukes balls, he had some Dukes balls as well,” said Jamieson.
“He just said look at the back end if we want to do some training, we'll do that but there was no specificity around me bowing to him or, or giving him a look, but whether he was insinuating something that’s something he could tell you but obviously quite a funny story that’s unfolded.”
Jamieson had a decent season in the IPL 2021 before it was called off due to Covid entering the bio-bubble. He had taken nine wickets from seven games, averaging 24.55.
