Allan Border – Australia should go with the three pacers and one spinner in the second Test
Australia Legend cricketer Allan Border is still perplexed as to why middle-order batter Travis Head was excluded from the side that lost to India by an inning and 132-run in the first Test at Nagpur.
Australia Legend cricketer Allan Border is still perplexed as to why middle-order batter Travis Head was excluded from the side that lost to India by an inning and 132-run in the first Test at Nagpur.
Head has been in outstanding form since the 2021/22 Ashes series, where he was named Player of the Series after Australia won the five-Test series 4-0. During the three-Test series at home against South Africa recently, which Australia won 2-0, he was the joint second-highest run-getter.
But despite accomplishing a few achievements in the past year, Matt Renshaw got the selectors’ nod ahead of Head for the first Border-Gavaskar Test. Renshaw failed to have an impact in Nagpur, getting dismissed for 0 and 2 respectively.
Border felt the Australians were “overthinking” their plans, and decided to drop Head only because of his two mediocre runs during the previous tours of Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
“I thought he (Head) must have been crook or injured himself… I just couldn’t believe that Travis Head could be left just on a win that he didn’t play very well in India last time or when they were in Sri Lanka,”
Border said on SEN Radio on Thursday.
“That’s maybe a case, but you’re allowed to improve, and Travis Head is one of those players that has improved and he showed that during the summer.”
Border added the Australians had got their selection for the Nagpur game wrong.
“I think we overthought some of the stuff, worrying about all little gremlins about the pitch… that’s what you expect when you go over there, they got the plans and the team wrong in the first game.”
With pace bowler Mitchell Starc and all-rounder Cameron Green hopefully to be fit for the second Test in New Delhi beginning Friday, Border believed that Australia should return to their reliable three-pronged pace attack and include just one spinner — Nathan Lyon rather than Todd Murphy.
Young spinner Murphy made his debut in Nagpur and took seven wickets, while Lyon got just one.
“You’ve got to go with Lyon, he’s built up enough brownie points over the years to be the first picked,”
Border said.
“Well done to young Murphy, it’s going to be a tough decision to leave him out, I know the wicket is going to turn but I just reckon the formula for us to be successful (is) three quickies and one spinner.
“Just bowl stump to stump and be relentless with that tactic, I think that is going to be better for us than trying to beat them with spin, we’ve tried that forever and ever, and it hasn’t worked.”