Ravichandran Ashwin: “If he continues playing like this, he could become a poster boy for Pakistan cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin believes Salman Ali Agha can become the next poster boy of Pakistan cricket.
Agha, who was recently appointed Pakistan’s T20I captain, has been in great form lately, chipping in with big runs at crucial times.
During the ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, he finished with 219 runs in three matches, which included a career-best 134, at an average of 73.
The 31-year-old from Lahore then proceeded to play in the 2025 Champions Trophy and accumulated 61 runs in two games at an average of 30.50.
Ashwin noted that if Agha keeps on posting big scores and coming to the rescue for the men in green, the sky’s the limit for him.
“If he continues playing like this, he could become a poster boy for Pakistan cricket,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by A Sports.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand and India in the Champions Trophy, which resulted in them getting eliminated in the group stage.
Their final match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain.
Pakistan are now taking on New Zealand in a limited overs series and Salman scored 167 runs in five T20Is, which included two fifties, at an average of 41.75 and a strike-rate of 135.77.
Salman continued his good run of form in the 1st ODI in Napier as he made 58 runs.
Pakistan ended up losing the match by 73 runs and will look to level the three-match series in the 2nd ODI, which takes places on April 2 in Hamilton.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir
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