Travis Head becomes Sam Konstas' number 1 enemy after stealing his place in Australia 11 vs Sri Lanka

Australia's star batter Travis Head has a chance to open the batting in the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. Head is a regular opener for Australia in white-ball cricket but bats in the middle order in Tests.

However, Australia's chairman of selectors George Bailey didn't rule out the possibility of making Travis Head open the batting in the Test series against Sri Lanka due to the spin-friendly conditions of the subcontinent.

If Head opens the batting, it will not be a great sign for the young opener Sam Konstas who made his Test debut recently against India. Konstas had a thrilling start to his Test career as he took the attack to the opposition.

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Travis Head likely to open in Sri Lanka

Cricket Australia chairman of selectors George Bailey considers Travis Head an X-factor player who can turn the game on its head. However, he stated that the final decision will be taken by the head coach and the captain depending on the team's composition.

Head opened the batting for Australia temporarily during the India tour in 2023 when David Warner was ruled out due to an injury. He scored 223 runs in five innings at an impressive average of 55.75 and scored at a strike rate of 71.47.

"Trav's (Travis Head) an option (to open). We've got a number of options and there's been a few preliminary discussions around where that may land, and that may depend on the makeup of that first XI. I think Andrew (McDonald, head coach) and Steve (Smith, captain) will settle on that in due course, once we hit Sri Lanka," Bailey told the reporters while announcing the squad.

Travis Head has an aggressive batting style and can be a lethal ball-striker. He has been in tremendous form over the past few years across formats. Recently, he was the highest run-getter of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with 448 runs in five Tests at an average of 56.

He scored all his runs at a strike rate of 92.56 with 2 hundreds and a fifty. Head is known as a good player of spin and can complement Usman Khawaja perfectly at the top. Khawaja usually likes to take his time which can allow Head to come into his own and play freely.

Will Sam Konstas be dropped?

Travis Head's move to the top will mean Sam Konstas getting dropped from the Playing XI. Konstas was impressive in his debut series and made his name for playing an aggressive brand of cricket without caring about the opposition's might.

He played unorthodox shots to arguably the world's best bowler at the moment Jasprit Bumrah. He wasn't afraid to step down to smash Bumrah over the infield despite getting beaten on numerous occasions.

George Bailey praised the youngster for his courageous batting but feels the tour of Sri Lanka will give a lot of insights about Konstas' ability. He backed the opener's technique to thrive in spin-friendly conditions.

"I guess in truth, you never really know (how they'll handle particular conditions) until someone's faced with them," he said. "What we have seen is he's a quick learner. (He) absorbs a lot of information," Bailey stated.

"So (we're) expecting him to get to get a lot out of it. I know from his spin play in Australia, and the opportunities he's (had) in different parts of the world, we think he's got a game that's well suited, and a technique that can stand up," he noted.

Australia will play a two-match Test series against Sri Lanka. In the absence of Pat Cummins, Steve Smith will lead the side with Travis Head as the vice-captain. Australia have also selected spinners like Todd Murphy and Matt Kuhnemann to complement Nathan Lyon.

Australia squad for Sri Lanka tour

Steve Smith (C), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cooper Connolly, Travis Head (VC), Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Matt Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Nathan McSweeney, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.