Debasis Sen, Johannesburg: It was a dream come true for Jansen twins on Monday as they had an opportunity to bowl at their idol Virat Kohli at the Indian nets here in Wanderers. Duan and Marco Jansen had an altogether over the moon experience as they bowled to the best batsman in the world and taking a picture with him after the practice session. The twins play for the Northwest U’17 Provincial side. Interestingly both of them bowl left arm medium fast and bats right handed. On being approached by Xtra Time, the middle aged man introduces himself as Koos Jansen, father of both the left-arm pacers in action at the nets. “The twins had been called upon by the coach of the U-17 Dragons team Claude to bowl at the Indian batsmen at the nets. But this wasn’t their first tryst with the Indians,” said Jansen. Later after the practice session, both Duan and Marco shared their experiences with Xtra Time. “It was just an amazing day. We don’t really have words to describe how we feel right now. But man, Kohli is unbeatable. At times, you feel that you have bowled a really good ball and it will take his edge or beat him, but he still finds a way to adjust and hit you. With the India ‘A’ team, we looked like bowlers, but here, Kohli was toying with us. Both Duan and Marco took a photo with the Indian captain after the practice session. “Yes we went up to him and asked him for a photo. We took a photo and he thanked us to bowling to him. We also thanked him for giving us the opportunity to bowl at him. Virat is one of our big heroes,” said Duan
Talking about their ambition to play for the country one day, Marco said, “Well it is always an honour to play for your country. It takes a lot of training and dedication to reach that stage. Dravid Sir told us that we should keep working hard and not lose focus.” It was an amazing experience for Juan and Marco to see him (Dravid) at their hometown in Potchefstroom “When we bowled at the India A batsmen he told us that we had great talent and we need to work hard keep being dedicated and train hard. He told us that if we work hard we might play for the country one day,” said Duan
Like a proud father, Koos Jansen wants to see both his sons donning the Proteas colours one day. “At the age of seven they just grabbed a ball and started bowling. They bowled at each other from a very young age at the backyard. They are very talented both with the bat and ball. They have been good in other sports such as rugby, athletics and even in golf.” Lastly, talking about their dream bowler, both Duan and Marco idolises Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc. “I like Mitchell Johnson and also Starc. I just like the motion that they go through. Those two are my international idols. What I like the most is their aggression. I like Morne Morkel specially the bounce that he attracts from the pitches,” signs off the talented twins.