Western Australia allrounder suffers series-ending injury during Aussies' defeat in Indore
Agar out of ODIs with broken finger
Spinner Ashton Agar will return home from Australia's Qantas Tour of India and is in doubt for the start of the domestic summer after fracturing his finger in the third ODI on Sunday night.
The left-armer fractured the little finger on his non-bowling hand attempting to stop a ball on the boundary during India's successful run chase in Indore, which handed them an unbeatable 3-0 series lead.
He left the ground to have the damaged digit strapped and later returned to complete his 10 overs, but it was confirmed on Monday that he will miss the rest of the series and return home for further assessment.
Team doctor Richard Saw said surgery may be required, putting the 23-year-old in doubt for the start of the home summer with Western Australia.
"Following the conclusion of the match he went for x-rays, which have confirmed a fracture of the finger," Dr Saw said in a statement.
"He will return home to Australia and consult a specialist with a possibility of surgery."
The exact length of Agar's stint on the sidelines won't be confirmed until he meets with the specialist.
Agar will not be replaced in the squad, meaning leg-spinner Adam Zampa - who was surprisingly dropped in Kolkata last week - will likely return to the XI for the final two matches of the series.
Image Id: BB4C8B1A1C7F414D9962092EDCD8209C Image Caption: Agar reacts after sustaining the injury near the boundary // Fox SportsSelectors are also yet to announce a replacement for paceman Pat Cummins for the T20 component of the tour after they announced he will return home at the end of the ODI series in order to rest ahead of the Ashes.
The injury is an ill-timed blow for Agar, who regained his spots in both the Test and ODI teams in recent weeks.
Having returned to the Test side in Bangladesh last month, he played his first ODI in more than two years last Thursday when he replaced Zampa for the second match at Eden Gardens. He picked up the wicket of Manish Pandey as part of Australia's comeback with the ball in Kolkata and also removed Virat Kohli on Sunday night, although he was targeted by big-hitting allrounder Hardik Pandya.
Having famously scored 98 on his Test debut in 2013, Agar reflected last week that he'd felt more at ease on his return to the Test side in Bangladesh
"I was so happy to be back," he said. "I felt a lot more calm and a lot more comfortable out there.
"It's amazing what four years of experience can do and just a little bit of age in general.
"I was pleased with the way I performed."
Australia will look to salvage something from the five-match ODI series with matches in Bengaluru on Thursday and Nagpur on Sunday.
Australia's Qantas Tour of India
Australia ODI squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Patrick Cummins, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Peter Handscomb, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Kane Richardson, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, Adam Zampa.
Australia T20 squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner, Jason Behrendorff, Dan Christian, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Aaron Finch, Travis Head, Moises Henriques, Glenn Maxwell, Tim Paine, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa.
India squad (first three ODIs): Virat Kohli (c), Rohit Sharma (vc), KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami.
ODI Fixtures
September 17: India won by 26 runs (DLS Method)
September 21: India won by 50 runs
September 24: India won by five wickets
September 28: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
October 1: VCA Stadium, Nagpur
T20 Fixtures
October 7: JSCA International Stadium, Ranchi
October 10: Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati
October 13: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad