On Friday night, Australia’s Ashton Agar became the talk of the town, for his remarkable bowling skills against South Africa in the T20I opener in Johannesburg. The left-arm spinner ripped through the defence of the Proteas’ batting line-up by bagging a hat-trick, and thus he became the second Australia bowler after former fast bowler Brett Lee — to achieve his feat in the shortest version of the game.
In the eighth over of Proteas innings, Agar unleashed his full potential by dismissing the likes of Faf du Plessis (24), Andile Phehlukwayo (0) and Dale Steyn (0) on successive balls to register a hat-trick that saw the hosts reeling at 44 for seven. South Africa were eventually skittled out for a mediocre 89 in 14.3 overs.
Overall, he went on to pick five wickets in the match, which is the best bowling figures for an Australian bowler in T20Is. Agar’s match-winning spell helped Australia beat South Africa by a whopping margin of 107 runs as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.
Ravindra Jadeja is my favourite cricketer: Ashton Agar
Australia spinner reveals how Ravindra Jadeja’s words of wisdom inspired him to bring out the best in himself despite facing difficult times. Agar recalled the candid chat he had with Jadeja after the India series.
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Agar then went on to name Jadeja as his favourite cricketer in the world. Agar said he is impressed by Jadeja’s ability to bat, bowl and field during the match and expressed his desires of playing like all-rounder Jadeja.
“I had a wonderful chat with Ravindra Jadeja after the India series. 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,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Ashton Agar as saying.
“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 in a statement.
Agar is keen to continue his show in the ongoing T20I series against Proteas.