IND vs AUS 2023: Darren Lehmann feels ‘second spinner’ Ashton Agar could be an x-factor on India tour

It’s not that every team has a luxury of having a left-arm finger spinner in their ranks for a sub-continent tour, but Australia is lucky to have one in Ashton Agar, feels former Australian coach Darren Lehman. India had trouble facing Steve O’Keefe during their last home series against the Oz, as he picked up 12 wickets in the Pune Test itself, handing India its first defeat at home in a long time. Keeping in mind about O’Keefe’s star performance, Lehmann, who himself was a left-arm orthodox, said he’s inclined a bit towards playing Ashton as the ‘second spinner’ alongside Nathan Lyon during the India series.

"Having been there, I'm probably more inclined to play finger spinners," former Aussie coach Lehmann said on Australian radio station SENQ.

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While Australia also have leggie Mitchell Swepson and newcomer Todd Murphy in their squad for the marquee Border-Gavaskar series, Lehmann said going ahead with Ashton straight away gives Australia a better chance of repeating Pune heroics in Nagpur this time. Explaining as to why the finger spinners in general have an advantage over the leg-spinners on such tracks, Lehmann said,

"It just gets through the air quicker and some spin and some don't. The leg-spinners sometimes spin it too much, if that makes sense... (for finger spinners) some skid on and you get beaten on the inside and you get an LBW. That's probably why they're looking at a finger spinner. We certainly did that four years ago (2017) and Steve O'Keefe bowled India out basically on his own in one of the last Test matches to win there,” the 52-year-old said.

Agar, who last appeared for Australia during the Sydney Test against South Africa in January, went wicket-less in the match. Unbothered by this, Lehmann thinks Ashton, who can bat well also, is perfect to play second fiddle to Lyon.

"That's why I'd be looking at someone like an Agar, bat a little bit, bowl as that second spinner," Lehmann added.

The four-time match Test series begins on February 9th in Nagpur.