Kyle Jamieson has faced Virat Kohli both as an opponent and as a teammate, and his verdict is refreshingly honest: you don’t really stop Kohli, you simply try to survive him. After India’s four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the opening ODI, the Kiwi fast-bowling all-rounder admitted that Kohli operates on a level few cricketers ever reach, where even the best bowling plans can fall apart under pressure.

Kohli was in sublime touch in Vadodara, cruising towards what looked like a record-extending 54th ODI century before Jamieson finally found a way through. The tall New Zealander had him caught at mid-off for a fluent 93, a dismissal that denied Kohli a landmark but did little to dull the impact of his innings.

“It’s hard to say whether this is the best version of him or not — he’s been pretty good for a long time,” Kyle Jamieson said after the match. “Every time you come up against him, you have to be at your absolute best just to compete. He’s on a different level.”

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Jamieson’s words carry extra weight because he has shared a dressing room with Kohli at Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL. That experience, he says, only reinforced how difficult it is to contain truly great batters. “You don’t really contain the greats — they have their way a little bit. I just enjoyed watching him play,” he admitted.

Ironically, Jamieson himself was New Zealand’s standout bowler on the day. His figures of 4 for 41 briefly tilted the game, as he removed Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and Ravindra Jadeja in quick succession to spark a mini-collapse.

Still, Kohli’s control of the chase meant India were never fully out of control. “He controlled the tempo through the middle and set the innings up for his team,” Jamieson noted.

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Reflecting on his own career, which has seen him go from a big IPL contract to long injury layoffs, Jamieson revealed a new sense of perspective. “Just being on the park means more to me now,” he said. For New Zealand’s younger bowlers, facing Kohli and Rohit Sharma in front of a roaring Indian crowd was an unforgettable experience. “Seeing the noise, every boundary, and when Virat and Rohit walked out — that was something special,” Jamieson added.