New Zealand fast bowler Jacob Duffy has expressed keen anticipation at the prospect of facing Virat Kohli in the upcoming five-match ODI series between New Zealand and India, which gets underway on 4 November in Hamilton. Having shared the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dressing room with Kohli during IPL 2026, Duffy says the experience gave him rare tactical insight — but also means Kohli has seen plenty of him too.

Duffy's Admiration for Kohli

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Duffy was candid about how the India veteran's off-field persona left an impression. 'Obviously, for such a religious figure, I guess you almost say, in India — he's obviously a megastar over there — for him to be so down-to-earth and sort of welcome all of us overseas guys in RCB was pretty cool,' Duffy said. He added: 'It'll be awesome to play against him now that I've sort of shared a changing room with him as well.'

Duffy also mentioned bumping into Kohli the day before the media interaction, noting that the India batter was in the gym. 'He was awesome to me,' the New Zealand seamer said, underlining the warmth of their off-field relationship.

Nets Sessions and Tactical Exchange

The two players spent considerable time facing each other in the nets during the IPL, with Duffy bowling regularly to Kohli as the first bowler to the first batter in RCB's pre-match routines. 'He's got a great work ethic,' Duffy said. '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's quite cool. But also from there, he's seen a lot of me now too, so he'll have good preparation.'

Those sessions also opened up broader tactical conversations. 'We talk a lot about fine details. We talk about certain wickets back in India. Certain wickets are quite different, so he talked a lot about the different lines and lengths on those kinds 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,' Duffy added. Notably, the exchange cuts both ways — Kohli will arrive at the series with a clear read on Duffy's methods.

The World Cup Imperative

Beyond the immediate series, Duffy pointed to the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa as the larger motivator. 'We've also got the World Cup about this time next year in South Africa. That's pretty high on the priority list, I think,' he said. Duffy, who grew up watching the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, described those tournaments as 'the pinnacles of our game' and acknowledged that a strong showing against India could be central to his World Cup squad case.

'I guess we're trying to build and push for a case to make that squad,' Duffy said, framing the five-match series as a direct audition for New Zealand's 2027 plans.

What to Watch in the Series

The Duffy-Kohli match-up shapes up as one of the more intriguing subplots of the series, given the shared history and mutual preparation. New Zealand will look to the Hamilton conditions — typically offering seam and swing — to give Duffy early purchase, while Kohli's ability to adapt to varying surfaces, as he described in his nets conversations, will be tested from the first game. The five-match series is expected to serve as a key ODI building block for both sides ahead of the World Cup.