Former Take a look at captain Ricky Ponting says he “wasn’t that shocked” to see Travis Head omitted for the opening match of Australia’s tour of India.
The shock omission of the dynamic left-hander brought about a stir amongst followers and previous gamers, together with Steve Waugh, and this was amplified when his substitute Matt Renshaw was trapped lbw for a golden duck on day one of many Nagpur Take a look at.
Ponting advised the ICC Overview podcast that whereas he might perceive the dismay on the choice from some corners of Australian cricket, the writing had been on the wall for Head’s omission.
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“The extra I thought of it, the truth that they performed Matt Renshaw in Sydney to me meant they in all probability had different plans in thoughts for him,” Ponting stated.
“Clearly, essentially the most instant plan was for him to bat within the center order for Australia on this Take a look at collection towards India.
“And whenever you take a look at that, in the event that they’re going to maintain him in, they couldn’t actually afford to maintain Travis Head in both as a result of then they might have 5 left-handers of their prime seven.”
Ponting stated conserving Head within the workforce at Peter Handscomb’s expense would have performed into the arms of India’s star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
“The opposite aspect of it’s that Travis’ file outdoors of Australia and on the subcontinent is nowhere close to nearly as good,” Ponting stated.
“So whenever you put all these items collectively, I truly wasn’t that shocked … there’s been a little bit of an uproar right here in Australia about ‘how might the selectors do that’?
“I do know (Renshaw) was out first ball immediately, I’ll forgive him of that – the opposite factor to bear in mind is that they’ve been over right here for what’s nearly every week now, in order that they’ve carried out a whole lot of coaching, the coaches and selectors would’ve saved an eye fixed on coaching and watched who was dealing with the spin higher than others.”
Ponting praised the strategy of Head’s different potential center order substitute Handscomb, who made 31 as Australia have been bowled out for 177 on the primary day.
