Australian spinner Ashton Agar ruled out of 2023 World Cup - Reports
Australian left-arm off-spinner Ashton Agar has been ruled out of the 2023 World Cup in India. According to The Daily Telegraph, he is yet to recover from a calf injury that made him miss the recently concluded ODI series against India.
Agar has been hampered by calf troubles for quite some time now. He suffered a minor calf tear while training with Western Australia ahead of the Aussies' tour of South Africa. He returned for the ODI series but was withdrawn after the first of the five matches after experiencing soreness in the calf.
He was looking forward to the World Cup between the T20I and ODI rubbers.
"World Cups bring out the best in one-day cricket, particularly in India," Agar told ESPNcricinfo on August 30. "You never know what pitch you're going to get. But the chances are as a spinner that you'll be playing, and there's a chance that you play two spinners in a lot of the games, particularly if the pitches get tired.
Agar returned home for the birth of his child soon after and missed the series against India. He was still part of Australia's squad for the World Cup and expected to return for the warm-up matches.
Now, the Aussies have another headache to manage, having already been buffeted by injuries to Travis Head and Nathan Ellis.
Who can replace Ashton Agar in Australia's squad for the 2023 World Cup?
At the moment, Australia only have Adam Zampa as a frontline spinner. Glenn Maxwell and Steve Smith can do the job on spin-friendly pitches as well. But Australia might feel a bit tied up with just them for most teams would look to have at least three specialist spinners in their 15-man squad for Indian conditions.
Leg-spinner Tanveer Sangha and in-form batter Marnus Labuschagne who can also bowl a bit are being seen as potential replacements for Agar.
Sangha played in the dead-rubber third ODI against India and returned figures of 1/61, taking the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja. This was only his second ODI. In the first, against South Africa in Potchefstroom, he got one wicket for 64 runs.