Ashton Agar to Tour India, but 2 Spinners Not Guaranteed

The cover image of this article is from perthnow.com.au.

Australia will likely play two spinners against India Ashton Agar is set to join the Australian squad for their tour of India next month, however it is still uncertain whether the team will play two regular spinners throughout the four-Test series.

Agar, who had not played a Test match in five years, had a tough comeback in Sydney as Australia was unable to force a win against South Africa. Captain Pat Cummins assured that the match was not an evaluation for India, as the pitch did not deteriorate as expected after the rain delays.

This week, Australia will announce their squad for the tour, most likely including Agar, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Swepson, and Adam Zampa - four spinners in total. Cummins believes Agar will be present and stated although the pitch in Sydney wasn’t as spinning as would be expected in India, Agar bowled really well.

Agar's selection for the Sydney Test showed that he has become the second spinner for the country, superseding Swepson who debuted in Pakistan last year. In the 2017 series loss in India, Australia played two spinners – Steve O’Keefe and Nathan Lyon – who each took 19 wickets. However, since then the emergence of Travis Head alongside Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne has changed the spin bowling strategy. Though Cummins admitted he under-bowled Head at the SCG, the off-spinner was still the most useful at times.

The last series that Australia won in India was in 2004, when they played three pacemen throughout, relying mainly on reverse swing. Cummins said that the team may need to switch up the strategy for each game in India. This means Cameron Green, who is the pace-bowling backup, and Mitchell Starc - currently recovering from fractured fingers - will be critical for the tour.

Australia are confident that their preparations for the four-Test series which begins on February 9 in Nagpur will be the best they can be, as the players gained experience in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year. Cummins said the batting and bowling groups have been great, and they have been able to bowl out their opponents in every Test match regardless of the conditions.

Although there were discussions of having the Sydney Test as a pink-ball fixture due to the bad light resulting in delays that contributed to the draw against South Africa, Australia captain Cummins discouraged Cricket Australia from doing so. Elgar, South African captain, agreed that a red ball provides the authenticity associated with Test cricket and should be respected. Both agreed that continuing to play in darkness was not the answer either, as the players weren’t able to see the ball at times.