Former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell has warned the Baggy Greens against using Travis Head as an opener in the upcoming five-match Test series against India. The Kangaroos are set to face India in a five-match Test series later this year. The 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled to start on November 22 in Perth. The Aussies are looking for an opening partner of Usman Khawaja after David Warner announced his retirement from the red-ball format of the game earlier this year.
In the last two Test series against the West Indies and New Zealand, Steve Smith opened for the Pat Cummins-led side but wasn’t able to deliver as per expectations. There are high chances of him moving back to his usual No. 4 position, and it will be interesting to see who opens for the Australians in the Test series against India in his absence.
Among the possible candidates, Travis Head’s name is doing the rounds. The left-handed batter opens for Australia in ODIs and T20Is and is tipped to open in Tests as well. But the idea of playing Head as an opener is not going down well with Chappell, who has warned Australia by saying that Head’s ultra-aggressive style won’t guarantee him success in Tests.
In his column for ESPNCricinfo, Chappell said, “Head opening in Test cricket is based on his unbridled success facing the new ball in both 50-over and T20 cricket. There’s no doubt Head, with his ultra-aggressive style, is the ideal player to open in the two short forms of the game. However, Test cricket is an entirely different proposition.”
“The fielding side employing extra catching fielders and being able to unleash a preferred bowler for longer periods makes opening much tougher in Test cricket. Any move to open with Head that is designed to unsettle Jasprit Bumrah is asking a lot of the batter. Bumrah, and to a lesser extent, Mohammad Siraj, are unlikely to be battered into altering their attacking mentality,” he added.
Head, who scored a century for Australia in the WTC 2023 final against India last year at the Oval, has scored 3173 runs in 49 Tests played so far. He has opened five times for Australia in Tests and has scored 223 runs.
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