AUSTRALIA’s Travis Head has been declared fit for the Boxing Day Test against India, providing a significant boost to the team.
Skipper Pat Cummins confirmed Head's availability on Wednesday after the batsman passed final fitness checks following a minor thigh strain.
“Trav is good to go, so he will play. He just ticked off some final things today and yesterday,” Cummins said. “No stress, no worries about injury for Trav, so he will go into the game fully fit. I don’t think you’ll see too much management of him through the game, maybe around fielding if he’s a bit uncomfortable, but he’s fully fit.”
Head, Australia’s number five batsman, is the leading scorer in the series, with 409 runs at an average of 81.80, including centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane.
Reflecting on Head's form, Cummins added, “It feels like the last 12 months he’s been in this unbelievable vein of form and he just keeps going. He’s hitting the ball really cleanly and you can see the pressure he shifts back onto the opposition, literally from the first ball he walks out there. I’m loving that he is in our team. Long may it continue.”
The five-match series is tied 1-1. India claimed a 295-run win in Perth, while Australia bounced back with a 10-wicket victory in Adelaide. The rain-affected third Test in Brisbane ended in a draw.
Cummins also confirmed Scott Boland will replace the injured Josh Hazlewood. In another change, 19-year-old opener Sam Konstas will make his Test debut, replacing Nathan McSweeney. Konstas becomes Australia’s youngest Test debutant since Cummins made his debut in 2011.
Reflecting on Konstas’s inclusion, Cummins said, “I just remember being really excited, and it’s similar for Sammy this week. There’s a level of naivety that you just want to go out and play, like you do when you were a kid in the back yard... That’s the message to Sam.”
Australia's playing XI: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Mitch Marsh, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
(With inputs from AFP)
