England fast bowler Chris Jordan recalled the "surreal" experience he had being part of Royal Challengers Bangalore's (RCB) IPL 2016 campaign, where Virat Kohli's men recovered from their mid-season slump to reach the summit-clash and came very near to lift the coveted trophy.
While that season is best remembered for Kohli's dominating run with the bat, Jordan too played his part in RCB's resurgence, taking on the death-overs responsibilities and bagging 11 wickets in nine innings.
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"That experience was surreal," the 31-year-old told Sportstar. "I enjoyed that dressing room. That was because of characters like AB (de Villiers), Virat (Kohli), (Chris) Gayle, (Shane) Watson and the list goes on. Bowling in India is not easy. Outfields are quick, pitches are flat and stadiums are relatively small."
"At Bangalore, you had to either execute everything perfectly or go out of the park and that changed my mentality. The constraint there taught me how to bowl as the margin for error was very less."
Jordan said captain Kohli was "very open" to his ideas as a bowler.
"As a bowler, you try to take control of your situation. Virat was very open to that. If things were to go wrong, he would come in and give his inputs," he said.
"He (Kohli), being one of the top batters in the world, knows how batsmen think. He and AB used to advise from that point of view. I was pretty relaxed."
Jordan still went to the auction the following season where Sunrisers Hyderabad showed trust in him but he didn't get too many opportunities.
The journeyman experienced quick was soon released by SRH but then Kings XI Punjab picked him for the league's this year edition, which unfortunately remains under suspension because of COVID-19 pandemic.
"Our first game was on the 30th (against Delhi Capitals). I would have reached there at least a week before," he said. "I was looking forward to joining the camp. We had a well-balanced squad and good management. Anil Kumble has lots of experience. He’s coached the Indian team. I wanted to work with him and others."
Internationally, Jordan wishes to be part of England's T20 World Cup campaign in Australia.
"The ultimate goal is to lift the World Cup," he said. "I'm happy to compete for places. The more competition there is, the stronger our squad is. Everyone’s constantly pushing to make the starting XI."
"So you’re seeing the best coming out of people not just in games but also during training. We enjoy each other’s success and that makes us a better side."
(Inputs from Sportstar)
