Will Jacks hopes England will put to good use the on-field “coaching” they received from Virat Kohli as they look to retain their T20 World Cup title next month.
The Jacks play the third game of England’s warm-up series against Pakistan after guiding the hosts to a 23-run win at Edgbaston on Saturday.
The Surrey all-rounder hit a crucial 37 alongside captain Jos Buttler as England took a 1-0 lead in the rain-affected four-match series ahead of Tuesday’s match at Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.
This was recently seen as Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased down 200 to beat Gujarat Titans in high-pressure conditions, with Rashid Khan scoring just 28 runs in one over. It was another example of the Jacks’ powerful batting after he hit an unbeaten century off 41 balls. India’s star batsman Kohli is watching from the other end.
“The great thing about the IPL is that every game is such an event, such a crowd, such an atmosphere,” Jacks told reporters on Monday, just over a week before England’s World Cup opener against Scotland in Barbados.
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“You feel like you have to go the extra level in every game, it’s similar to international cricket.”
As for batting with Kohli, the 25-year-old added: “He is a very good role model. The way he approaches every training and every aspect of the game off the pitch, his intensity, everything he does has 100% attention.
“He’s been doing it for a very long time and you can appreciate that as a young person who often doesn’t want to do the hard work, but you see him do it and you want to emulate it.”
Game speed control
“When we were batting together, he was coaching me up there. I learned some valuable things from that innings about chasing and controlling the pace of the game, which really helped,” Jacks added.
“I was really proud of the way we maintained the partnership and didn’t abandon it.”
Jacks, whose England career currently consists of just two Tests, seven one-day internationals and 12 T20s, is looking forward to major global tournaments.
“Participating in the World Cup is something I have dreamed of since I was young. “I’m really happy to do it,” he said. “Now we’re getting closer and we’re building in the right direction.”
Jacks labeled his England T20 record score of 218 runs in 18.16s a “mixed bag”, but his opening innings and conversion for three did not help his cause.
“I probably started half my games and batted at No. 3 the other half,” he said. “I’m not lying when I say this is my first time at batting three. I’m learning on the job.”
He added: “I start every game and it’s about how I can turn that into game-winning points. It’s about mindset. It doesn’t matter what my average is. “It’s good if the team wins.”
