You don’t contain greats like Kohli: Kyle Jamieson
Having been both a rival and a teammate to Virat Kohli, New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson says he can only marvel at the Indian superstar’s craft as he operates at a “different level”, one where great batters have their way even if bowlers try to contain them. Kohli looked set for a record-extending 54th ODI century on Sunday in the opening ODI against the Kiwis that India won by four wickets. However, Kohli fell seven runs short of his milestone when the imposing Kiwi bowler had him caught at mid-off for 93.
Jamieson, who has shared the dressing room with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, said it’s tough to determine if the Indian batter has been at his best right now. “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?,” Jamieson told the media after Sunday’s loss.
“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. “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.
Jamieson was by far the best bowler from both the teams returning figures of 4/41 but could not avert a defeat for his side even as he sparked a minor collapse, dismissing Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja (4) and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession. “He (Kohli) controlled the tempo through the middle and set the innings up for his team,” Jamieson admitted. Jamieson, who has been through the highs of earning a big IPL pay cheque to spending time on the sidelines due to back-related troubles, said he looks at his career with more gratitude than ever before.
“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 gave a long list of fast bowlers who inspired him 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.”
On leading a relatively greenhorn New Zealand bowling attack, Jamieson said it was “cool” to have the new faces experience playing 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. New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson, centre, reacts as India's Virat Kohli, right, and Shreyas Iyer run between the wickets during the first ODI cricket match of a series between India and New Zealand, at Kotambi Stadium, in Vadodara, Gujarat.
