Ashton Agar heaps praise on 'rockstar' Ravindra Jadeja; wants to emulate him on the pitch
In-form Australia all-rounder Ashton Agar has revealed that he draws inspiration from ‘rockstar’ Ravindra Jadeja and wants to emulate the Indian all-rounder on the pitch.
The 26-year-old became only the second Australian after Brett Lee to take a hat-trick in a T20I game against South Africa last night, as he managed to pick up a total of five wickets whilst giving away 24 runs – the joint-best T20I figures for an Australian bowler.
Agar’s exploits helped Australia skittle South Africa out for 89, their lowest total in a T20I, and hand the Proteas a 107-run defeat - their worst loss in the format.
Agar broke into the Australian limited-overs set-up over the past year and has been a reliable performer in ODI’s and T20I’s.
However, he hit a bit of a lean patch during Australia’s tour of India last month, where he only managed to pick up two wickets at an economy of 5.60.
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The Aussie all-rounder has stated that he indulged in an inspiring chat with Jadeja post India’s series triumph and hopes to follow his marker whilst representing his country.
"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. 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.
"So I was pretty inspired by talking to him. And I've got good people around me: I've got a wonderful fiancée - she's very supportive, so I'm really lucky - and a great family. They're able to keep me really level."