Marco Jansen: From net bowler to enjoying battles out in the middle with Virat Kohli

Marco Jansen fondly remembers the first time he encountered Indian legend Virat Kohli. 

Still a gangling teenager back then, Jansen and his identical twin brother, Duan, were called up to be “net bowlers” to the touring India squad at a Wanderers training session.  Despite not being called on during the first day, the Jansen brothers waited patiently before getting their chance the next day.

“There were two days at the Wanderers. The first day was both my brother and myself, we didn't bowl a single ball or we bowled like the last 20 minutes,” Jansen said, after the Proteas’ 17-run defeat to India in the first ODI in Ranchi.

“And then in those 20 minutes, I think Ravi Shastri was the coach back then. He asked us to please come back the next day, which was quite nice. And then we bowled for like two, two and a half hours, which was nice.”

Jansen has come a long way since those early days in 2018. Scripted almost like a fairytale, the lanky left-armer made his Test debut against India in the first Test at Centurion three years later on the subsequent tour of South Africa, and in an ironic twist of fate, dismissed Kohli with the very first ball he bowled to the Indian legend.

The pair have enjoyed numerous battles since, both the IPL and international cricket, with the friendly rivalry resuming in the first ODI at Ranchi.

Kohli, returning to the India team, showed that he was still at the clinical best with a superb 135 off 120 balls to power the hosts to 349/8. Jansen tried his best to keep India in check with 2/76.

He certainly enjoyed the battle against one the finest white-ball batters in the game.

“He (Kohli) has all bases covered, he plays his short ball well, he drives well, he cuts well, he plays with his pads very well. Bowling against him is obviously not the easiest job in the world. 

“But it was very nice to watch him play growing up, watching him on TV to where you're actually bowling at him trying to get him out.

“It's annoying but it's fun at the same time if it makes sense. But that's why we enjoy the game, we enjoy playing against the best in the world and that's how we test ourselves.

"He wants to win games for India, I want to win games for South Africa. So, it's quite a nice battle.”

After trying to limit Kohli and the rest of the Indian batting line-up with the ball, Jansen launched his own counter-attack with the bat, smashing a boundary laden 70 off just 39 balls, to give the hosts an almighty fright.

“I'm just trying to keep as low as possible because I'm used to a bit more bounce back home. And then, like I said, just trying to watch the ball and playing it as it comes. Yeah, I don't try and think too much because that's when I get myself into trouble,” he said

“We unfortunately didn't make it to the end, but I think going forward, the second and third ODI’s, butI think it's just a case of keep on doing what we're doing because we're doing the right things. It's just like adding them on top of each other like we've been doing in the Test squad. So, I think once we get on the roll, we're going to be tough to beat.”