Australian spinner Ashton Agar is expected to be ruled out of the World Cup, in another blow to Australia's World Cup hopes.

Spinners are expected to play a big role in the upcoming ODI World Cup, which will be hosted exclusively in India for the first time.

Spin bowlers who can contribute with the bat will be key players for the teams taking part in the marquee event. Australia had the advantage of having spin bowling all-rounder Ashton Agar in their ranks, who has around ten years of international experience.

The report further states that Ashton Agar is expected to miss the World Cup after failing to recover from the calf injury that ruled him out of the T20I series against South Africa earlier this month.

Ashton Agar later played an ODI against the Proteas before returning home for the birth of his first child. He was part of the Australian squad for the recently concluded series but did not join the team for this assignment.

According to report that Ashton Agar is unlikely to join the Australian white-ball squad in India. He is likely to be replaced by inexperienced spinner Tanveer Sangha, while players like Marnus Labuschagne and Matthew Short are also in the running.

Agar made his ODI debut in 2015 and has played just 22 matches. He has taken 21 wickets at 45.62 and scored 322 runs at 24.77. The numbers may not look very impressive, but the fact that he bowled mainly in Australian and English conditions, where spinners didn't get much support from the deck and batted further down the order, should be taken into account. The Aussies will begin their World Cup campaign against India in Chennai on October 8.