Ravichandran Ashwin: “He has quality, he can handle pressure situations, and he has a presence at the crease that I haven’t seen in a Pakistani player for a long time”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha is the first player from the country he has seen with such a big presence in a long time.
Ashwin also praised Salman for his ability to thrive in pressure situations as he often bats with the lower order and is still able to score runs.
The 32-year-old has put up a number of outstanding performances lately, including a knock of 93 in the Test series against South Africa and two fifties in the ODI series that followed.
After this, Salman struck 105 not out in the ODI series against Sri Lanka before going on to smash a career-best 63 not out against the same opposition in a T20I tri-series that also included Zimbabwe.
“He has quality, he can handle pressure situations, and he has a presence at the crease that I haven’t seen in a Pakistani player for a long time,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel as quoted by A Sports.
“And I mean it – he has that presence. I just hope he doesn’t follow the path of some other players.”
Following the T20I tri-series, Salman went back to domestic cricket and featured in the President’s Cup Grade-I (1-Day) competition, where he amassed 88 runs in four games for the State Bank of Pakistan at an average of 22.
Most recently, he captained the men in green in their T20I series against Sri Lanka in Dambulla, and accumulated 61 runs in two games at an average of 30.50 and a strike-rate of 265.21.
Next up for Pakistan will be a three-match T20I series against Australia in Lahore, which will take place between January 29 and February 1.