Travis Head leaks Australia's stunning batting experiment plans for SL Tests

Published - 27 Jan 2025, 03:23 PM | Updated - 27 Jan 2025, 11:35 PM

Travis Head
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Middle-order batter Travis Head has opened up on Australia's plans to shuffle the batting order in the upcoming Test series in Sri Lanka. Head, who usually bats at No. 5 in Tests, will be in a tussle with the young Sam Konstas to open the batting alongside Usman Khawaja.

Konstas was impressive in his first Test outing against India at home and played a role in Australia's Test series win. Meanwhile, Head too had a great series with the bat as he finished as the highest run-getter of the series.

Just days before the start of the Test series, Head was asked about his batting position but he had no idea about that. The left-hander also asked his team to be brave and flexible enough to play in any conditions in the world.

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Travis Head asks Australia to be brave

While speaking to the reporters before Monday's main training session, Travis Head claimed to be unaware of his batting spot. "I don't know where I'm going to bat at this stage. We'll see how that wicket plays out over the next couple of days," Head said.

When asked about the prospect of opening the batting, Head accepted that to be discussed in Australia's dressing room. He called for his team's batting order to be more flexible and try out different things.

"It's been a topic of conversation for the last little bit in this team on whether the Australian first innings, second innings, why doesn't the order change? Why can't we be flexible? What moves? How can we be brave? That hasn't played out as such yet. Is this the tour to do it? We'll wait and see," he added.

Travis Head on Australia trying out different combinations

Travis Head further claimed that the game of cricket is evolving and the teams need to do something different. He believes that the Australian team is experienced enough to try out different batting combinations.

"The game is evolving, so why not continue to see where we can make jumps and leaps and where can we get an advantage? Head argued.

"If that's using people in different positions, it's not traditionally done a hell of a lot but this team's experienced enough and in a great position where players will be open to that if needed to be," he added.

Travis Head's recent Test form

Travis Head registered an average of just 7.66 while batting at No. 5 on his last Test tour of Sri Lanka. However, the left-hander comes into the ongoing series with some great form under his belt.

Head scored 448 runs in five Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at an average of 56. He scored his runs at a blistering strike rate of 92.56 with 2 hundreds and 1 fifty. Head's counter-attacking approach will be tested in the spin-friendly conditions in Sri Lanka.

On the other hand, Sam Konstas played the last two Tests against India and aggregated 113 runs at an average of 28.25. The teenager showed his fearless approach against the best bowler in the world Jasprit Bumrah, which became the highlight of his debut.

Tagged:

Australia National Cricket Team Sri Lanka National Cricket Team SL vs AUS Sri Lanka vs Australia AUS vs SL Australia vs Sri Lanka ICC World Test Championship Australia tour of Sri Lanka Travis Head Sam Konstas
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