Australian spinner Ashton Agar helped his side register an emphatic 107-run victory win over the Proteas in the first T20 International at Johannesburg on Friday and declared Ravindra Jadeja as a “Rockstar” and his “favourite player in the world”. The all-rounder was judged the man of the match after his hat-trick and a cameo 20 from nine deliveries proved enough for the South Africans at the Wanderers Stadium. The leg-spinner prior to this fantastic figure of 5/24, had an undistinguished India tour – picking up two wickets in three ODIs. But Agar revealed that a brief chat with the Indian all-rounder filled him with confidence.
Australia battered South Africa to their heaviest defeat in cricket’s shortest format with the help of Agar, but he himself was all praise for Jadeja in the post-match conference, claiming to emulate his performance out there in the middle.
“He’s my favourite player in the world – I want to play cricket like he does,” Agar said.
When asked on what makes Jadeja a consistent all-rounder, Agar said that his all-round attributes whether in batting, bowling or fielding, makes him an “absolute rockstar”.
“He’s an absolute rockstar. He smacks them, gun fielder and spins the ball. But it’s just his presence when he’s out there, watching him filled me with confidence,”
“And just talking to him about spin bowling, (he said to) 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. So I was pretty inspired by talking to him,” the left-arm spinner added.
The Australians are eager to wrap up the series at St George’s Park on February 23, while hosts South Africa hope to keep the three-match series alive in the second T20I at the city of Port Elizabeth.
The third match of the T20I series will be played in Cape Town and bot the teams will lock-horns in a three-match ODI series starting February 29 onwards.
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