New Delhi, Feb 22 With spin all-rounder Ashton Agar being sent home from the Test tour of India, former Australia captain Mark Taylor? is left confused over how the left-armer bowler's future in Test cricket would look like.
Agar, who played in the Sydney Test against South Africa alongside off-spinner Nathan Lyon last month, has now gone from being Australia's second-preferred spin option to now not being in the Test scheme of things, especially with Todd Murphy and Matthew Kuhnemann given Test debuts in Nagpur and New Delhi respectively.
"I don't know what his future is as a Test player. They picked him for the Sydney Test, which I thought was a good selection because they were thinking about the series in India. But then they didn't pick him in India. So I don't see what sort of future he has left," Taylor was quoted as saying by Wide World of Sports on Wednesday.
"?If they're not picking him in India, I'm not sure how they can pick him again. It's particularly worrying for Ashton Agar if he harbors hopes of playing Test cricket again. If he was younger you'd say, 'Well, he can come back ?from this', but right now I'm struggling to see how he can put this behind him and play Test cricket again."
He's been around for a long time now ... He's not a spring chicken. I've got no doubt now that the selectors will be looking at the development of Matthew Kuhnemann as a left-arm spinner, so I don't know where that leaves Agar," he added.
Agar was never a regular fixture in Australia's Test squad, despite scoring a rapid-fire 98 as a number eleven batter on debut against England in 2013 Ashes. Since then, he's taken only nine wickets at an average of 52 from five Test matches.
"The biggest problem for Ashton Agar is? his red-ball record. His first-class bowling average is 42, and your red-ball form over a period of years suggests the type of bowler you'll be at Test level. If you're 21 years old and averaging 42 it's a lot different to being 29 years old like Agar and averaging 42," said Taylor.
The 58-year-old Taylor also felt that if Agar was not to be Australia's second spinner, they could have tried Kuhnemann from the Sydney Test. "That would have been a better punt to take."
India have won the first two matches of the ongoing 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy 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 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test between India and Australia will be played at Holkar Stadium in Indore from March 1-5, followed by the fourth and final game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad from March 9-13.
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