Ashton Agar to return home from India to play domestic cricket, could return for ODIs: Report

New Delhi: Australias left-arm spin all-rounder Ashton Agar is set to return home from the ongoing Test tour of India, being played for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Agar is now expected to play Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup matches for his domestic side Western Australia.

As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, no additions are being made to Australia’s Test squad ahead of the third Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, to be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, starting from March 1.

Agar, though, is expected to play in the three-game ODI series in India, starting from March 17 in Mumbai.

“Australia are 2-0 down in the series, and Josh Hazlewood and David Warner have already gone back home with injuries. Unlike them, Agar will leave fully fit and available to play in WA’s next Sheffield Shield game on March 2 and the 50-over Marsh Cup final that WA will host on March 8,” said the report.

The 29-year old Agar had arrived in India with the Test squad in the start of February as one of the four spinners in the squad. He had featured as the second spinner alongside Nathan Lyon in Australia’s last Test of their home summer against South Africa in Sydney.

But he was not selected for the first Test in Nagpur, with off spinner Todd Murphy making his Test debut and partnering with Lyon alongside two fast bowlers in captain Pat Cummins and Scott Boland.

In the second Test in New Delhi, Australia opted for three spinners apart from Cummins as their lone fast-bowling option. But Agar was once again not selected, with fellow left-arm spinner Matthew Kuhnemann making his Test debut despite not being named in the original squad and having flown to India five days before the start of the second Test.

“(Tony) Dodemaide (Australia’s selector on tour) and Agar met at the team hotel yesterday and it was decided that Agar would head home. He remained likely to return to India in March with the ODI squad, where he is an important cog in Australia’s plans ahead of the World Cup in India later in the year,” added the report.

India have won the first two matches of the ongoing 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia and through the six-wicket victory in New Delhi, they have now retained the trophy by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-game series.

The third will be played in Indore from March 1-5, followed by the fourth and final game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from March 9-13.

–IANS