Former Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar has named Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai as his favorite player amid the T20I series against India. Afghanistan were reeling at 43-5 in the series opener on Sunday however, Omarzai was able to help the hosts post 156 runs on the board.

The right-hander scored an impressive knock of 64 runs off 44 balls with the help of fours and as many sixes. Omarzai also got the big wicket of Indian opener Sanju Samson. The Afghanistan all-rounder has scored 872 runs in 67 T20I matches and has scalped 55 wickets in his T20I career.

Vijay Shankar said on Ravichandran Ashwin’s YouTube Channel, “He’s my favorite player. He can swing the ball both ways, bats and fields brilliantly. So he’s a complete package and a proper all-rounder. He is not just a bits-and-pieces all-rounder that’ll give you two overs.”

On the other hand, Shankar is optimistic that Nitish Kumar Reddy will be a very good all-rounder for India if he is given a consistent run.

“Nitish Kumar Reddy, irrespective of whether he goes for runs or not, should be given a proper run. It’s not easy being an all-rounder. Even when you get an opportunity, you’ll only get one or two overs, and in that, you’ve to deliver. As a batter, because everyone is batting brilliantly, he has to wait for his opportunity. He has to score in the rare match he gets an opportunity. Given a consistent run, he’ll be a very good all-rounder for India,” said Shankar (via the aforementioned source).

Reddy returned with expensive figures of 0-20 in two overs he bowled but didn’t get a chance to bat on his return to the team’s playing XI against Afghanistan.

The second T20I between India and Afghanistan will be played on Tuesday in Delhi.