Australia face an uphill struggle as they look to make a comeback in their four-match Test series in India after collapsing to a comprehensive defeat in the first match. The Australian batters looked largely at sea against the Indian spinners as they sank to a defeat by an innings and 132 runs. It has led to questions as to whether Australia were right in dropping the in-form Travis Head and choosing to play Matt Renshaw ahead of him.
Captain Pat Cummins has now stated that Head is in the conversation for making an appearance in the second Test in New Delhi that starts on Friday. While it was rumoured that Head could end up replacing struggling senior opener David Warner, Cummins has indicated that the former Australia vice-captain could be playing at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
“Travis (Head) has been awesome, he is been working hard on his game. He is absolutely part of the conversation for this Test as he was in the 1st," he told the press ahead of the second Test match at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Cummins said that he would like to see Warner playing his natural attacking game. In the first Test, Warner was dismissed one run in five balls in the first innings and 10 runs in 41 in the second. This was only a continuation of his poor Test record in India, where he averages 22.16 in 18 innings. This is despite the fact that Warner has a great limited overs record in the country and is considered one of the greatest batters of all time in the Indian Premier League.
The Delhi Test will be played at the home ground of Warner's IPL team Delhi Capitals. “Warner, when he tries to apply pressure to the opposition is the best," said Cummins.
{{/usCountry}}The Delhi Test will be played at the home ground of Warner's IPL team Delhi Capitals. “Warner, when he tries to apply pressure to the opposition is the best," said Cummins.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking about the pitch he said: “"Not sure about the pitch, it is a different soil altogether, but not dissimilar in nature of the pitch. We expect it to spin."
“We will have a discussion over how we can fit in (Mitchell) Starc in terms of bowling combination- going with spinners, Boland etc. Ideally if batters chip in, or if we have someone like (Cameron) Green, it is ok to go with four specialist bowlers," he said.