South African bowling all-rounder Marco Jansen made an interesting choice when he was asked to name the batsmen he faced the most difficulties against. Surprisingly, he did not name Indian cricket icon and Royal Challengers Bengaluru stalwart Virat Kohli.
In modern cricket, Marco Jansen has emerged as one of the most exciting talents. The all-format all-rounder, mainly known for his bowling skills, is currently playing for the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the ongoing IPL 2026 season.
Against whom does Marco Jansen have the most difficulties?
When Jansen was asked to name the toughest batsmen to bowl he has faced in the shortest format of the game, he named the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) openers. According to Jansen, Indian opener Abhishek Sharma and Australian opener Travis Head are the toughest batsmen to face in T20.
“The toughest hitters [to bowl to] They are probably Abhishek [Sharma] and travis [Head]. It’s very, very difficult to play against those two in a Powerplay. To be honest, I don’t feel like bowling to any batsmen in T20 cricket,” said Marco Jansen.
The pacer also mentioned Virat Kohli.
He further said that he would love to go one-on-one with Virat Kohli as he is one of the most decorated batsmen of this era.
“But yes, I think someone I will probably enjoy playing against is Virat Kohli. He is one of the most important players in the tournament,” he added.
Virat Kohli has a moderate record against the Protea pacer. In the Indian Premier League, Jansen dismissed Kohli and restricted him to a strike rate of 137.50. In his limited IPL matches, Kohli scored 11 runs in 2 innings against Jansen. When the Protean was 17 years old he took the star batsman by surprise in net sessions.
Kohli has a modest record against the Protea pacer
In the Twenty20 format, Marco Jansen has a very limited matchup with Virat Kohli. The fast bowler has so far bowled 19 balls (7 balls in 2021 and 15 balls in 2025) and allowed the batsman to score just 26 runs for a strike rate of 136.8. During this time, she fired Virat on one occasion. In T20, Virat Kohli’s batting average against seamers is just 26.00, which is not that impressive considering his height.
In the ongoing Indian Premier League, Marco Jansen and Virat Kohli are expected to clash when Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) clash in a match of IPL 2026. PBKS vs RCB, the much-awaited match is scheduled for the 61st match of the season on May 17. In the afternoon, the match will begin at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala.
As of now, PBKS, under the leadership of Shreyas Iyer, leads the IPL 2026 points table as the only unbeaten team in this edition so far. And defending champions RCB, led by Rajat Patidar, are second on the points table and look strong to confirm a place in the play-offs again.
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