Harbhajan Singh points out Australia's big mistake, 'He should've played from 1st Test'

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has pointed out a big mistake Australia made in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India. Harbhajan feels that Australia made a mistake by not playing Ashton Agar from the 1st Test itself. Harbhajan said that Australia played two off-spinners, which was a mistake because they had an option of a left-arm spinner in Agar. Harbhajan went on to heap praise on Agar, saying "he is a talented bowler."

"The Australian team looks slightly empty. Left-arm spinner Ashton Agar has been released. I think he should’ve played from the first game. He could have been a better option. Australia played two off-spinners, which was a big mistake. Agar is a talented bowler," Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube channel. 

Agar has played just 5 Test matches for his country from 2013 to 2023. In those five Tests, Agar picked nine wickets at a dismal average of 52.00. The left-arm bowler, however, has played 64 first-class games and has taken 157 wickets at an average of 42.21. Agar has also played 20 ODIs and 47 T20Is for Australia since his white-ball debut in 2015. 

India defeated Australia in the first two Tests to retain the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy and go 2-0 up in the four-match series. India won the second Test match in Delhi by 6 wickets despite Australia looking favourites at one point in time. Australia reduced India to 139 for 7 in their first innings but a 114-run partnership between Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel helped the home side recover and reach a run short of the visitors' first-innings score. The third Test match is scheduled to take place in Indore starting March 1. 

India vs Australia

India’s Test squad for third and fourth Test against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), K L Rahul, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KS Bharat (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.

Australia squad for the third Test: Steve Smith (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Lance Morris, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Swepson, Matt Kuhnemann.

Image: BCCI