Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has warned the hosts against using Travis Head as opener against India. Australia will host India for a 5-match Test series starting November 2024, and will hope to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in home turf.
Australia have been facing a conundrum at the openers’ position after the retirement of David Warner. The spot was filled by the legendary Steve Smith, however, the batter has not looked assured for the majority part of his stay. Smith has scored runs at an average of 28.50 as an opener, which is much lower than his averages at No.3 of No. 4, which stand at 67.08 and 61.51 respectively.
Australia have been pondering other options for the opening spot as Smith Smith’s experience in the middle order could turn out to be invaluable against India in the showpiece bilateral series. One of the names floated around was Travis Head, who opens for Australia in the white-ball formats of the game and has helped the side clinch the ODI World Cup 2023, played in India.
While Travis Head opened for Australia in Test matches in India, former Australia cricketer has shunned the idea. In his latest column at ESPNcricinfo, Chappell has suggested that the promotion of the middle-order batter to opening spot will have no bearing on the India bowlers at all.
“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,” Chappell wrote in his column on ESPNCricinfo.
“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,” said Chappell.
The veteran cricket thinker further added that Head might do better for Australia if there were some runs on board, instead of getting sent in early and facing the music against Ravichandran Ashwin, who has done well with the new ball in the recent past.
“The wily R Ashwin is unlikely to be panicked by an opponent’s ultra-aggressive approach. The argument could be mounted that opening with Head means he’d be more settled facing Ashwin with some runs on the board. On the other hand, a smart opposing captain can utilise the offspinner with a newish ball,” Chappell said.
“Amongst any argument to use Head as a Test match opener, there’s a compelling counterpoint,” concluded the former Australia player.
