Auckland [New Zealand], November 1 (ANI): New Zealand pacer Jacob Duffy is looking forward to locking horns with his Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) teammate Virat Kohli during the five-match ODI series starting from November 4, saying that after sharing the changing room with him, the 37-year-old must be really well-prepared to face him in the 50-over format.
From November 4, Indian cricket will have a more festive feel to it as the five-match ODI series will mark the return of two of sport’s most celebrated superstars, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. A key battle during this series would be between two RCB mates, Virat and Duffy, both of them playing a crucial role in RCB’s back-to-back Indian Premier League (IPL) triumph this year.
During a media interaction at Auckland, Duffy said, as quoted by Cricinfo, “I got to see him [Kohli] yesterday. He was in the gym, obviously, so running into him there was cool, but he was awesome to me.”
He also pointed out Virat’s incredible work ethic and “down-to-earth” nature despite him being sort of a “religious figure” in a cricket-crazy nation. He also spoke on the time spent bowling to him at the practice nets, where both would be among the first ones to hit the nets.
“Obviously, for such a religious figure, I guess you almost say, in India – he is obviously a megastar over there – for him to be so down-to-earth and sort of welcome all us overseas guys in RCB was pretty cool, so very appreciative for him for that. It will be awesome to play against him now that I’ve sort of shared a changing room with him as well.”
“He has got a great work ethic. Obviously, I bowled a lot to him in the nets because he was always the first batter and I was always the first bowler. We actually spent a lot of time facing each other in the nets, so that is quite cool. But also from there, he has seen a lot of me now too, so he will have good preparation,” he added.
Recalling spending time with Virat, Duffy said that he spoke with the Indian batting icon on about Indian conditions and how those insights helped him.
“Certain wickets are quite different, so he talked a lot about the different lines and lengths on those kind of wickets and how he adjusts and how he thinks I could be adjusting on those ones too. So little insights like that were quite important from him,” he added.
This year, Virat has scored 552 runs in nine innings across nine matches, at an average of 69.00 and a strike rate of 117.94. His tally includes two centuries and three half-centuries, with a highest score of 139 not out.
During the recent ODI series against the West Indies, Kohli scored 168 runs in three innings. His performance included a 139 not out off 88 balls in the first match while chasing a target of 296.
The 37-year-old is the second-highest run-scorer in ODI cricket history, with 15,109 runs at an average of 58.78. He has scored 55 centuries and 79 half-centuries in the format, with a highest score of 183. (ANI)
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