Australia’s tour of South Africa began on Friday at the Wanderer’s Stadium in Johannesburg, where the host team suffered a massive defeat of 107 runs against the visitors, their heaviest defeat in the T20 International format.
Ashton Agar was Australia’s hero in the game, delivering in both the batting and bowling fronts when the team needed it most. He scored 20 runs off nine balls while and scalped 5 wickets with 24 runs, which included a hat trick.
Agar revealed that during Australia’s previous series against India, he had a conversation with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja who gave him some much-needed confidence. Agar said that Jadeja is his “favourite player in the world” and he would like to mimic his idol on the field.
At the post-match presentation, Agar said,
“He’s my favourite player in the world – I want to play cricket like he does.”
When Agar spoke about what makes Jadeja stand out from other all-rounders, he did not hide his admiration for the bowler, saying,
“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.”
Agar spoke about what Jadeja told him about spin bowling, and the tips he picked up from the Indian “rockstar” He said,
“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 second T20 match of Australia and South Africa will be held at St George’s Park, Port Elizabeth on February 23. Australia will want to seal the series by registering a win over South Africa, while the latter will want to take the series to the decider. The third match will be held at Cape Town, after which the teams will play three 50-over games that begin on February 29.
