Ravichandran Ashwin uncovers Travis Head's clever 'ploy' to outsmart Jasprit Bumrah and co.

Ashwin identified Head's ploy to tackle the Indian pacers ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne.

Ravichandran Ashwin is widely considered as one of the sharpest readers of the game, has been significantly active on X since his retirement earlier this month, following the third Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. On Wednesday, the off-spinner shared an interesting observation regarding Travis Head’s batting drills as the Australian batter prepared for the upcoming Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.

Ravichandran Ashwin identified Travis Head's batting approach ahead of the MCG Test (AP)

Head has been a major thorn in India’s side throughout the series, playing pivotal knocks, including two centuries. His blistering form was crucial in Australia’s series-levelling victory in Adelaide earlier this month. However, Head has been dismissed multiple times in the series by pacers bowling from around the wicket, with both Harshit Rana and Jasprit Bumrah finding success with this strategy.

Ashwin pointed out that Head, in his batting practice, seemed to guard his off-stump to ensure he cleared a higher area around the off-stump to negate the round-the-wicket threat.

Head faced an injury scare ahead of the fourth Test but looks fit to feature in Melbourne, as Australia look to capitalise on the momentum following the win in Adelaide. The Aussies also looked a superior batting side in Brisbane, posting 445 before bundling India out for 260.

Head in the BGT

Travis Head is head and shoulders above every batter in the ongoing series so far; while the southaw has over 400 runs to his name (409) in three Tests, none has even breach the 300-run mark yet. Moreover, Head stayed true to his aggressive style of batsmanship, scoring at an incredible strike rate of 94.24.

Moreover, Head has also been the saving grace of the Aussie batting order, with the next highest scorer in the series being Alex Carey, with 162 runs to his name. The opening order of Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney has struggled throughout the series, with the latter being dropped for the fourth and fifth Tests. Marnus Labuschagne, too, has been out of touch while Steve Smith only returned to run-scoring in Brisbane, scoring a century after a series of low scores.

India's KL Rahul is the second-best batter in the series in terms of runs, with 235 runs in six innings. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Reddy currently stand third and fourth in the list, respectively.