India lead the four-match series 1-0 against Australia after winning the first game in Nagpur by an innings and 132 runs.
New Delhi: Australia skipper Pat Cummins hinted that batter Travis Head might come back in the playing XI in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against India after missing the first game in Nagpur.
Head’s exclusion in Nagpur, raised many questions on the team selection process with former players ‘shocked’ at the batter’s exclusion. Ahead of the Delhi Test, the pacer admitted that Head has been a part of discussions for the second Test.
“Travis has been awesome, he’s been working really hard on his game. He’s been fantastic around the squad like he always is,” Cummins said during the pre-match press conference. “There’s always plenty of fun wherever Heady is.
“He is absolutely part of the conversation for this Test as he was in the first.” Head’s ouster from the first Test made a lot of noise considering the fact that the left-hander was coming after a successful summer at home. He scored 312 runs against West Indies and made 213 runs against South Africa.
In case Head makes the playing XI in Delhi, it is still unknown who would make way for him. Peter Handscomb, who replaced Head in the playing XI in Nagpur, spent some time in the middle in the first innings before being dismissed for 31. In the second innings, he scored six.
There were also calls to drop opener David Warner in Delhi but Cummins backed the southpaw despite his poor show in the first Test. Warner scored 1 and 10 in Nagpur.
“I’m not a selector. I don’t think they’ve had a meeting but I’m sure Davey will be there. You saw at the Boxing Day Test when he puts pressure back on the opposition, he’s pretty hard to bowl to,” Cummins stated.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who missed the first Test due to injury has been training in Delhi after joining the squad while all-rounder Cameron Green is still in process of recovering. Starc didn’t talk much about their availability.
“I don’t have much for you there. Starcy and Green had good sessions yesterday and we will assess them later today. We don’t have a line through them yet, we’ll see,” he added.
