Travis Head was sensationally dropped for the first Test against India as Australia made three changes to its starting XI ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener in Nagpur.
The 29-year-old, currently sitting at No. 4 on the ICC Test batting rankings, is coming off a record-breaking home Test summer, plundering 525 runs at 87.50 against the West Indies and South Africa. He became the first Australian to finish a home Test summer with 500+ runs and a strike rate of 95+.
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However, the South Australian was brutally axed for the highly-anticipated Nagpur Test, with national selectors recalling Victorian batter Peter Handscomb for the first time in four years.
Adding to the surprise was that the left-handed Matthew Renshaw was retained over Head having featured in Australia’s last tour to India in 2017.
The move backfired on day one, however, with Renshaw falling for a golden duck, trapped LBW by Ravindra Jadeja.
Renshaw DUCK after taking Head’s spot | 00:32
Head has a poor batting record in the subcontinent, averaging 21.30 in Tests in Asia since making his debut in the United Arab Emirates five years ago. His most recent scores in Asia are 14, 36, 8, 23, 26, 11*, 6, 12 and 5.
The left-hander has never scored a Test century outside of Australia.
Head’s apparent susceptibility to spin was cause for concern during last year’s Test tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka — of his six dismissals, he fell victim to spin five times, departing for less than 25 on each occasion.
LOWEST TEST AVERAGE FOR AUSTRALIAN BATTERS IN ASIA
19.40 — Greg Blewett
20.16 — Richie Benaud
21.30 — Travis Head
22.00 — Dav Whatmore
22.28 — Matthew Wade
* Minimum 10 innings at position 1-7
Speaking to reporters earlier this summer, chief selector George Bailey hinted that Head could take on a “different role” in the subcontinent for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
“I think you have to play different conditions, at different times,” Bailey said in December.
“I think he (Head) has spoken to the fact he hasn’t been exposed to those conditions a great deal. And you can talk about it and try and replicate it but until you’ve actually been there and played on those types of wickets, that’s the only way, or certainly the fastest way of getting better in those conditions.
“Pat is driving this team to be very, very adaptable. So I think there are opportunities for players in the XI to play different roles at different times as well. So whether that’s the same for Travis in subcontinent tours, wait and see.”
Head’s omission, reminiscent of Usman Khawaja’s shock axing ahead of the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, baffled the Australian community back home.
“He was the player of the summer,” former Test opener Matthew Hayden said in commentary.
“I’m just speechless.”
Australian cricket legend Steve Waugh posted to Instagram: “Hard to believe we can drop the No. 4 ranked Test batsman in the world and probably our best batsman in the last 12 months, plus he bowls better than average off-spin. Let’s wait and see — maybe the Aussie selectors are geniuses!”
Former South Australian seamer Chadd Sayers tweeted: “Head being dropped is a fu**ing disgrace.”
Head’s part-time off-spin was expected to be a valuable weapon on India’s spinning decks — since the start of last year’s Test tour of Sri Lanka, he has averaged 13.00 with the ball.
Victorian off-spinner Todd Murphy was picked for his Test debut in Nagpur, replacing fellow tweaker Ashton Agar, with paceman Scott Boland also recalled to the starting XI.
Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Cameron Green were unavailable for selection due to injury.
Handscomb, playing his first Test since January 2019, is coming off a prolific home summer in the Sheffield Shield, registering 571 runs at 81.57 in five first-class matches.
Indian XI
Rohit Sharma (capt), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australian XI
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
