Head fell for the first Test, Australia to bat

Captain Pat Cummins has won the toss and Australia will bat in Nagpur as tourists scrapped Travis Head for the first Test against India in a bombshell call.

Matt Renshaw and Peter Handscomb were favored over Head for Thursday’s start of the Border Gavaskar series at VCA Stadium.

It’s a brave decision by the Australian selection after Head’s dominant 2022, where he made 655 runs with a 50.38 average over two centuries.

The 29-year-old played some important shots in Australia’s summer tests against the West Indies and South Africa but his poor record in Asia counted against him.

Head, who can bowl off-spin handily, struggled in two Tests in Sri Lanka with an average of just 7.66.

Meanwhile, young Victorian spinner Todd Murphy will make his Test debut after playing just seven top-flight games.

Murphy was confirmed as Australia’s 465th Test cricketer with star veteran Nathan Lyon presenting him with his baggy green.

India has its own debutant in Twenty20 sensation Suryakumar Yadav, who has been fielded in mid-ranking in place of youngster Shubman Gill.

Chosen as India’s wicketkeeper, KS Bharat made his debut after star Rishabh Pant suffered serious injuries in a car crash in December.

Cummins didn’t hesitate to hit first, with questions around the pitch after some unusual curation from ground staff leading up to the Test.

India have chosen three spinners – Ravi Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel – to exploit Australia’s perceived weakness against the spinning ball.

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (Captain), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.

India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, KS Bharat, Ravi Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami.