IND vs AUS: Australia head coach Andrew McDonald reveals Travis Head’s reaction on his first Test snub

India-Australia encounters have always been full of pressure and intensity. The first Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy was also similar as India put pressure on the visitors right from the start. India got the perfect start in the first Test of the series as they humbled the Aussies by an innings and 132 runs.

There were some baffling decisions that the Australians made regarding their team decision and opted for a batting line-up that can play spin well over players who are in-form. Travis Head’s exclusion from the line-up was one of the most controversial decisions after the line-ups were announced.

It is worth noting that Head has been in sublime form since last year, as he amassed 655 runs in 10 Test matches with 2 centuries. The Adelaide-born, during the New Year's Test against the Proteas, went on to score a crucial half century (70). However, the south-paw's performance in the sub-continent over the years has been quite dismal. Head scored only 23 runs in 2 Tests during the Sri Lanka tour. Moreover, in Pakistan, he could only manage 68 runs in 3 Tests.

'Head had different thoughts on that and that's fair enough' - Andrew McDonald on Travis Head's reaction

Albeit, Australia's coach, Andrew McDonald, backed the decision of the team management. He said, “We valued others' skill sets in those extreme conditions. I think the discussion point that we went through in the process will be different in hindsight. And the hindsight is that those people that you will compare the competition for places around didn't perform the way that we'd probably expected." 

The 41-year-old also spoke about how the left-hander, Travis Head, reacted to his exclusion from the playing XI for the first Test. “(Head) had different thoughts on that and that's fair enough. And he's entitled to have different thoughts on that along with others. And we're not saying any decision that we make is right or wrong," McDonald added.

McDonald also spoke about the decision to give a chance to a youngster Todd Murphy over choosing experienced personnel in the form of Ashton Agar. "The Todd Murphy one was heavily discussed as well. Could we play the ball spinning in, two of those types of bowlers against the Indian batting line-up, all those discussions that we had behind the scenes are pretty much what you discussed as well," the Victorian concluded.

The Australian team will now set out to play the second Test of the series against India which will begin from February 17, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi 

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