Ashton Agar

Not many knew about him until Michael Clarke decided to name him in the playing XI for the opening Test of the 2013 Ashes series in England. In fact the decision came as a big surprise as Clarke preferred a rookie ahead of an already experienced Nathan Lyon who was also in the squad.

The game began and he didn't need to do much as his fast bowlers did the job for Australia and England were bowled out just before close of play on the first day. In reply, the Australians made a meal of their batting effort and were 117/9 when Ashton Agar joined Phil Hughes at the crease. The duo stunned England with a sensational 163-run last wicket stand as Agar was caught in the deep on 98. What's more, Australia also managed to get a handy lead.

With the ball in the second innings, he picked up two wickets but he failed with the bat. Eventually, Australia went on to lose the match by 14 runs in what was one of the most dramatic finishes ever in Test match history. Hailing from Victoria, Agar plays for Western Australia and made his first-class debut in 2013. He represents the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League and also opened the innings at times.

If Agar felt he was living a dream after his first Test, it turned out to be false hope. Reality sunk in soon after and he was dropped after just one more Test. Having started his career as a bowler, Agar played in Western Australia's middle-order. His bowling has improved with time and it wasn't a surprise that he was recalled into the national team in 2017 - ahead of the tour to India. He didn't get to play a Test, but was back in the mix for the series against Bangladesh, playing in his first Test four years after being dropped.

Agar enjoyed a fairly reasonable series in Bangladesh, providing the ideal foil for his senior spin partner Nathan Lyon who ran riot. The hiatus seemed to have worked in Agar's favor as he displayed more guile in his bowling than was the case when he made his debut. At that time, all we could see was a left-arm spinner who mostly darted them in at a flatter trajectory. However, as grew, he learnt the art of flighting the ball and getting it to dip on the batsmen apart from using the width of the crease to change angles.

While Agar went in and out of the Test side, he encountered the same fate in the limited-overs setup after making his ODI and T20I debuts in 2015 and 2016 respectively. In 2020, Agar became only the second Australian to take a T20I hat-trick and he did so in a game against South Africa. After missing out on a spot for the 2019 Cricket World Cup, Agar was a part of Australia's squads for the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan