When Kesrick Williams did his usual notebook celebration during a T20I in Jamaica in 2017, he would've thought it's just another instance of him indulging in his act. But the batsman he dismissed being Virat Kohli, Williams was going to get a taste of his medicine at some stage in the future and he did.
Two years later, as India went about chasing a huge target of 208 in a T20I in Hyderabad against West Indies, Kohli once again showed off his class, smashing 50-ball 94* in his team's six-wicket win.
Along the way, he got his one back at Williams, who conceded 60 runs off his 3.4 overs without taking a wicket and saw Kohli doing his own version of the notebook act after hitting him for one his six maximums on the night.
"Every ball I bowled, he said something but I simply responded, 'mate, just bat and shut up. Really, you sound like a child'," Williams told about the experience of bowling to Kohli in that match and the sledging that happened to International Cricket Network 360.
In the next match, however, Williams bounced back to take Kohli's wicket through his spell of 2/19 in the visitors' series-levelling victory in Thiruvananthapuram.
This time, he didn't go about noting down anything, but let no one be unaware he has his finger on the mouth. That would've definitely angered Kohli and he did pull off another masterful innings of 70 runs in just 29 deliveries in Mumbai to seal the series 2-1, but Williams survived the onslaught to an extent, going for only 1/37 in four overs.
"I didn't see it as intimidation," he told CricketNext. "In the first game, he came out with a plan. His plan worked out in terms of probably getting into my head a bit. The second game I got over him. The third game, it was a bit of back and forth and I kind of tied him down in a couple of overs."
"At the end of the day, I wouldn't call it intimidation, at no point of time, was I intimidated by him. He's a talented guy and a great batsman, probably the best batsman in the world."
"But I'm a determined bowler no matter who I'm bowling against. No matter who it is, I stand up for me and execute when I have the chance," Williams added.
