New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson, who has been Virat Kohli’s teammate and opponent, says he can only be in awe of the Indian superstar’s skill because he plays at a “different level” where strong hitters get their way despite bowlers’ attempts to control them.
In Sunday’s opening ODI against the Kiwis, which India won by four wickets, Kohli appeared destined for a record-breaking 54th ODI century. But Kohli fell 7 runs short of his milestone when the Kiwi bowler had him caught at mid-off for 93.
It’s difficult to tell if the Indian batsman has been at his best at the moment, according to Jamieson, who shared the dressing room with Kohli during the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
“It’s hard to say from an opposition point of view whether this is the best version of him or not — he’s been pretty good for a long time, right? You feel every time you come up against him, you’ve got to be at your absolute best to even compete. He’s on a different level, he plays the game on a different level to most cricketers, (and) he looked pretty good for the most part,” a PTI report quoted Jamieson telling the media after Sunday’s loss in Vadodara.
“We’ll just have to try and come up with some plans to try and contain him, but (then) you don’t contain the greats, they have their way a little bit, so just enjoyed watching him play for sure,” Jamieson added.
Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja (4), and Kohli were all dismissed by Jamieson, who was by far the best bowler for both teams with figures of 4/41, although he was unable to save his team from losing despite igniting a small collapse.
“He (Kohli) controlled the tempo through the middle and set the innings up for his team,” Jamieson admitted.
Jamieson, who has experienced both highs and lows in his career—from receiving a sizable IPL salary to missing time due to back issues—said he is more thankful than ever for his job.
“Like any player’s journey has got its ups and downs and its own experiences, I was fortunate to (have) burst onto the scene in a way and have a bit of an impact and spend some time here with the IPL early on,” he said.
“(It) certainly (was an) eye-opening experience and something I probably wasn’t quite ready for at that stage in my life, and (I’ve) been on a bit of a journey as well with the back issues over the last couple of years.”
“My perspective has changed a fair bit, I look at touring and playing cricket and just being on the park with a fair amount of gratitude these days than probably what I did (before),” he added.
The all-rounder listed numerous quick bowlers who influenced him when he was growing up.
“You’re always looking at the greats, right, whoever’s at the top of the game at that point in time. When I was growing up, we had Shane Bond from a New Zealand point of view, obviously a lot of those Aussie quicks were doing a hell of a job, Brett Lee…Glenn McGrath.”
“As you get older you watch bits of Dale Steyn…you’re always trying to watch the guys who are at the top of the game and if we look at it from the present standpoint, you’re looking at guys like (Pat) Cummins, (Josh) Hazlewood, Jasprit (Bumrah), (Kagiso) Rabada.”
Jamieson, who is in charge of a relatively inexperienced New Zealand bowling attack, said it was “cool” for the newcomers to play in India.
“Everyone’s trying to help each other and I’ve been fortunate to come to this country a few times and to experience everything that comes with playing cricket in this country,” he said.
“It was so cool just to see them experience this for the first time, the crowd and the noise and every boundary and when Virat and Rohit (Sharma) walked out,” he added.
