Back from a shoulder surgery, the Western Australian is keen to make every minute spent on the Indian conditions count.
Speak about Ashton Agar and the first thing that comes to mind, besides his 187cm lanky frame that bowls left-arm spin, is the near century he scored on his Test debut two years ago as a No. 11. Though he went on to play only one more Test, the 21-year-old Agar is now keen to make a “career in Australian cricket team”.
Back from a shoulder surgery, the Western Australian is keen to make every minute spent on the Indian conditions count.
In Chennai as part of the Australia A squad that will play the second and final 'Test' against India 'A' from Wednesday, Agar, like every other Australian A team-mate, is excited at the prospect of playing against India Test captain Virat Kohli over the next four days.
It will be a good challenge to play against a player like Virat Kohli. Everyone is excited about the opportunity and everyone wants to get his wicket,” said Agar in Chennai on Tuesday.
Agar, born to Sri Lankan mother and Australian father in Melbourne, was part of the Australia Test squad that toured India in 2012-13 but played in the tour games, also in Chennai. That experience, along with the current one, will only put him in good stead.
“I learnt the pace that I need to bowl on these wickets and learnt how the batters like to play me. They like to use their feet more and then wait for me to bowl a bit short and then sit back and cut or pull the ball. They (Indian batsmen) pick the length very quickly, so I have to adjust very quickly to the way they are playing me. Also, learnt on the sort of fields I have to set from the first ball,” Agar said of the experience.
“That goal is to play more for Australia and play high levels of cricket. The more cricket you are playing, the more you are travelling, the more you are going to be coming to the sub-continent. So, the more I learn from this experience, the better I will be when come across it again and do even better in these conditions. As a spinner in India, it is great. You are going to get wickets that turn. You also come across batters who are very good players of spin. It is a really good challenge and really a good opportunity to do well if you bowl well. The challenging part is bowling against good players of spin.”
He said that discarded Indian opener Gautam Gambhir was of immense help when the Delhi left-hander was on a short stint to Perth to finetune his batting with Justin Langer recently. Agar said: “I have spoken with Gambhir in Australia, just before coming here. It was a great experience. He played against me in that game, so he could give me some feedback. That was quite valuable coming over here.”
Known for his bowling, Agar shared a then-world record of 163 for the 10th wicket with late Phil Hughes at Trent Bridge in July 2013, top-scoring for his team with 98 as a No. 11. Now out of the senior team, he wants to make it there again.
“That is the ultimate goal – to play for Australia. You want to have a career for Australia, not just a few games here and there. But I try and not think too far ahead. I just have to play well and the rest takes care of itself. It means a lot, playing Ashes cricket is enormous. There is a huge amount of pride if you are playing for the country and in an Ashes Test.”
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