Ashton Agar to return home from India tour to play Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup matches
Australia's left-arm spinner Ashton Agar will return home from India to partake in the Sheffield Shield and Marsh Cup. According to ESPN Cricinfo, selector Tony Dodemaide met him at the team hotel in Delhi on Wednesday and decided that the player shall head home.
The West Australian traveled to India as one of the four frontline spinners. However, the all-rounder will head home without playing a Test.
Dodemaide justified his exclusion from the Delhi Test, stating that his red-ball game is not where it must be, evident from an underwhelming performance in the Sydney Test against South Africa.
However, the 29-year-old is likely to return for the ODI series after the four-Test rubber.
Cricket Australia have announced no replacements for the third Test in Indore, starting on March 1. The visitors are 0-2 down, with David Warner and Josh Hazlewood returning home due to injuries.
Captain Pat Cummins has also headed home to deal with a family illness.
"It's a pretty big insult" - Adam Gilchrist on Australia treating Ashton Agar
Speaking to SEN WA Mornings on Monday, Adam Gilchrist weighed in on Agar's exclusion, stating that it was insulting for Agar to be so down below in the pecking order. The former keeper-batter said:
"Ashton Agar… there’s been murmurings that he might be on a flight home because he might feel like he’s surplus to requirements over there and I can understand why, without being in the camp and knowing the finer details of why he wasn’t picked.
"But it’s a pretty big insult that I know from touring and being on a lot of tours, you felt that if you’re picked on the tour in a broader squad - unless it’s a pretty extreme like for like that has to come in - you generally expected the guys that were first reserves to step in."
Despite the West Australian's presence, the selectors flew in Matthew Kuhnemann for the second Test against India. The left-arm spinner made his Test debut in Delhi and took two wickets in the game.