Australia's in-form batter Travis Head has refused to comment any further about the discussion around the opening spot in the Test squad. Head said that whatever he says makes headlines whether he refused to open the batting or backed a few players to open alongside Usman Khawaja in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trphy 2024-25.
"I don’t think it needs to be spoken about. I think it just creates too much bullsh*t really. That’s just my point of view. This happened to me the first time when I backed up a couple of mates - Marcus, Harris and a few others - who open the batting, and I come out and say ‘Yes, I do want to open the batting,’ and that creates a headline," Head told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Head has scored 223 runs as opener from five innings including one half-century. However, he has scored bulk of runs at no.5 in the format. The 30-year-old is disappointed with the media sensationalising his comments. He also said that there was a point when he did wanted to open the batting in Tests.
"If I then say ‘no,’ which I did in support of those guys, and at that time, I had conversations where I knew I wasn’t opening the batting, so I was honest in the media. But when it was reverted around this year, it’s been ‘He never wanted it in the first place,’ which isn’t true. I want whatever is right for the team, but in the way I answered it, people interpret it in certain ways. So I’m done with talking about that conversation," he added.
Head ready to bat anywhere
The southpaw just wants to be a team player and does not care about his batting position. He also revealed that noone in the team or the team management has told him to bat the way he does, often launching a counter-attack.
"I’ve never worried too much about where I bat, I don’t really care where I bat if I’m honest, I’m happy to bat where I best fit for the team. At the moment, it’s at five and it has been for a while. I’m playing a certain way. I’m not forcing it, and they haven’t directed me to say ‘Hey, this is the way we want you to play,' it comes naturally, and they said from the start they want me to play the way I see the game and attack the game the way I see it,” he further added.
Head's recent form and records
In the Perth Test, Head was the only Australian batter to score a half-century. He registered scores of 11 and 89. Against India, he has scored 815 runs from 11 Tests at an average of 43.89 including one century and four fifties.
He has a good record in pink-ball Tests as well. The left-handed batter has scored 543 runs from 12 innings in day/night Tests at an average of 49.36 including two centuries and three fifties.
