The IPL Dukes ball story was just Christian adding some stuff to make good story, reveals Kyle Jamieson

07/01/2021

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RCB pacer Kyle Jamieson opened up on whether Virat Kohli had asked him to train with the Dukes or not and revealed that it was Dan Christian adding things to turn it into a good story. He added that the RCB skipper didn't ask him specifically to bowl with the Duke balls during 2021 IPL.

Kyle Jamieson had turned into India's nemesis when the team toured New Zealand in 2020. Despite playing his first series back then, he had troubled the Indians batters with his bounce and swing. And it helped him get a hefty contract in the IPL with Virat Kohli's team Royal Challengers Bangalore going all-out for him given the impression he had left on the Indian skipper during their tour. However, one of the biggest talking points of the association between Kohli and Jamieson that emerged from the IPL was the story of the former asking the Kiwi quick to bowl to him with the Dukes in the nets, which he refused as per fellow RCB player Dan Christian, who had narrated the incident in 'The Grade Cricketer' channel.

However, Kyle Jamieson, who wreaked havoc on the Indian team in the WTC final, has made it clear that Kohli didn't specifically ask him to bowl with the Dukes during the IPLand said it was Christain adding up stuff to make a good story.

“No, it wasn’t so much him asking. I think it was Dan (Christian) 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.

“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 told Sporting News, reported India Today.

The lanky Kiwi quick had the number of Virat Kohli in both innings of the WTC final. However, he reckons that there is a lot to learn from the prolific Indian batsman and revealed how the Indian skipper was friendly even during the encounter.

“He’s a world-class player and just to spend time observing how he operates and how he goes about things both on and off the field was pretty cool and you know it’s nice just to be able to be friendly out in the middle even just having a bit of a laugh and a joke, while the game was going on.”

Jamieson and Kohli will again reunite for the Bangalore-based franchise when IPL resumes in September, albeit this time in UAE.