Agar arrived in India with the Test squad as an incumbent in Australia’s XI, having played as the second spinner alongside Nathan Lyon in their last home Test of the summer against South Africa in Sydney.
Dodemaide took the unusual step of speaking to the Australian media prior to the toss on the first morning in Delhi to explain the selections. He explained that Agar was not selected because “his red-ball bowling is not quite where he wants it to be”. Dodemaide and Agar met at the team hotel on Tuesday, and it was decided that Agar would head home.
Dodemaide explained that it was a “close call” to pick Murphy over Agar for the first Test.
“Todd’s come on tremendously, as we know, and he’s been a real find for us for this,” Dodemaide said. “Those two (Murphy and Lyon) are now clearly established, I think, as the best two spinners, and they have 18 out of the 24 [wickets] to fall so far for us.
“We just decided that Matthew’s style might be suited to the conditions there [in Delhi, for the second Test]. Matthew’s done nothing wrong, he took Virat Kohli’s wicket and did a really solid job, we thought.”
Agar remains likely to return to India with the ODI squad in March, as he is been an important cog in Australia’s plans ahead of the World Cup in India later in the year.