'No chance I am going to bowl at you' - Kyle Jamieson denies to bowl to Virat Kohli in RCB nets with WTC Final on the cards

Royal Challengers Bangalore all-rounder Dan Christian has revealed a funny story revolving around Virat Kohli and Kyle Jamieson which happened during the first week of their franchise training for the IPL 2021. Christian narrated a story of the time when Kohli asked Jamieson to bowl to him in the nets with the duke balls, and the pacer completely denied him. 

To understand the context of this story, let us just get a few things clear. Right after the IPL, India and New Zealand will meet in the ICC World Test Championship final 2021 at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton. Both the players will be featuring for their respective countries, and the match will most likely be played with a duke ball. 

Why is duke balls difficult to face?

Now, when it comes to Test cricket and the duke balls, due to its distinct seam position and slightly darker shade of red color, the ball behaves in a different manner. The duke ball is used in England and the West Indies. In India, the SG ball is used while the majority of the rest of the countries use Kookaburra balls. 

When it comes to playing in England and adapting to the conditions, getting command over the duke ball is a challenging aspect. Now, coming back to the incident between Kohli and Jamieson, the story was revealed by Christian during an interaction with The Grade Cricketer’s YouTube channel.

Jamieson was called by the host of the show if he has been thinking about getting a few people out in England with the duke ball later this year, whenever he gets hit for a boundary. The tall Blackcaps pacer revealed that he has a couple of Duke balls in his big with which he practices. At this moment, Christian narrated the story.

Why Virat Kohli would have wanted to face Kyle Jamieson with the Duke ball?

“Pretty cagey from Virat actually, right in the first week we were here. The three of us were sitting down after the nets and these two were talking about Test cricket. Virat said: ‘So Jamie (Kyle Jamieson) have you bowled much with the Dukes ball?’ and they are talking about that stuff,” Christian said. Kohli faced Jamieson in Test cricket before but with the Kookaburra ball in New Zealand, not the duke ball. 

Christian continues his story saying, “Jamie says: ‘Yeah, I have a couple of them here, I will have a bowl leading in before I go over there’ and Virat says ‘Oh, if you want to have a bowl against me in the nets, I am more than happy to face’.” The 37-year-old Aussie further revealed why Kohli could’ve wanted to face Jamieson. 

“Jamie was like, ‘No chance I am going to bowl at you!’ He would have looked at his release point and everything that he does with the Dukes ball!” Christian noted as the two cricketers laughed. 

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