'Hard to believe' - Steve Waugh expresses disappointment over Travis Head's exclusion from 1st Test against India

India and Australia locked horns in the first Test at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur on February 9, Thursday. Both teams named a strong playing combination for the first game of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, but there were also some surprise exclusions on both sides. While Shubman Gill was benched in the Indian side, Australia benched one of their star and in-form batters Travis Head.

Head’s exclusion from the XI came as a shocker to many, given the fact that he is currently fourth in the Men’s Test Batting Rankings. He has been in tremendous form with the bat as well, having scored three half-centuries and a century in his last six outings in the red-ball format in the past two months.

Head, the world No. 4 Test batter, is coming off a brilliant home Test summer that set a record, scoring 525 runs at an average of 87.50 against the West Indies and South Africa. He made history by finishing the home Test season with 500-plus runs and a strike rate of 95-plus, becoming the first Australian to do so.

Many raised questions about his exclusion and former Australian cricketer Steve Waugh too joined the bandwagon and questioned Australia’s decision. Taking to his official Instagram account, he wrote:

“Hard to believe we can drop the number 4 ranked test batsman in the world and probably our best batsman in the last 12 months plus he bowls better than average off spin - let’s wait and see-maybe the Aussie selectors are genius’!”

India get off to a fiery start

As for the visitors, Todd Murphy received his debut cap, while Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat made their Test debut for India. Winning the toss, Australian skipper Pat Cummins elected to bat first. But the decision did not quite work in Australia’s favor as Indian pacers drew the first blood when Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami sent the openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja back to the pavilion within the first three overs.

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