Kyle Jamieson reveals truth behind famous story involving Virat Kohli & Dukes in IPL 2021

New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson has finally opened up about the famous incident between him and Indian skipper Virat Kohli during the IPL 2021 camp earlier this year, where he had allegedly refused to bowl to his RCB teammate with the Duke's ball in the nets. Australian bowler Dan Christian had shed light on the incident during his interview on the YouTube channel The Grade Cricketer, where he had appeared alongside Jamieson. However, the Kiwi player has now revealed that Christian had "added some stuff" to the original story to make it sound more interesting. 

'Never gave any look'

Jamieson, while speaking to Sporting News, said he is not sure whether Virat Kohli was really trying to trick him into bowling with the Duke's ball ahead of the WTC final to get some practice. However, Jamieson admitted that the duo discussed the Duke's ball and their upcoming matches in the United Kingdom, and Kohli did ask him if he wanted to do some training towards the back end of the tournament. Jamieson claimed that Kohli never specified when the training would take place and that he never gave the Indian batter any "look" after the conversation as mentioned by Christian. 

"Pretty cagey from Virat actually like in the first week we were here. The three of us were sort of sitting down on the net and so these two are talking about Test cricket and Virat says 'well gentlemen have you bowled much with the duke ball?'. Jammie is like 'I've got a couple here. I'll have a bit of a bowl before I go there (England for WTC final)' and Virat says 'Oh if you wanna have a bowl, bowl me in the nets. I'm more than happy to face you'. Jammie is like 'no chance I'm gonna bowl you'. Getting ready and have a real good look at his release point and everything that he does with the duke ball before," Christian had said while sharing the anecdote. 

Jamieson claimed that Christian made up some details to make the story sound more interesting. Jamieson shined with the ball during the World Test Championship final, where he picked up a total of 7 wickets, including a five-wicket-haul in the first innings. Jamieson dismissed the Indian skipper twice as the IPL teammates came head-to-head for the first time since the Duke's ball incident earlier this year. 

The interview was taken down from YouTube hours after it went live, as the show's hosts later revealed that Christian was asked by the Royal Challengers Bangalore management to request the removal of the clip. Jamieson and Kohli are expected to meet again in September when the second half of IPL 2021 resumes in the UAE. 

IMAGE: IPL/PTI