Johannesburg: Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar, who became only the second Australian bowler to take a T20I hat-trick, has revealed he admires ‘rockstar’ Ravindra Jadeja and wants to play cricket like the Indian all-rounder.
Agar picked up a brilliant fifer, including a hat-trick, as Australia defeated South Africa by a huge margin of 107 runs in first of the three T20Is played at the Wanderers. Retired pacer Brett Lee is the other Australian bowler to have taken a hat-trick in T20Is.
The left-handed spinner didn’t have a great time in the three-match ODI series in India as he could manage taking just two wickets while conceding 5.60 runs per over against the Men in Blue.
However, after an underwhelming performance, Agar had a chat with Jadeja and was ‘inspired’ by him.
“I had a wonderful chat with Ravindra Jadeja after the India series,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Agar as saying after the match Friday. “He’s my favourite player in the world — I want to play cricket like he does.
“He’s an absolute rockstar: smacks them, gun fielder, and spins the ball. But it’s just his presence when he’s out there, watching his confidence… Just talking to him about spin bowling, keep trying to spin the ball. When he’s batting he has a really positive attitude, and he takes that attitude into the field as well,” he added.
Agar’s five wickets for 24 runs are the best bowling figures for an Australian bowler in the format. The previous best belonged to James Faulkner who took five wickets for 24 runs against Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2016.
IANS
