Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke slammed the team’s management and selectors for not admitting their mistake of dropping Travis Head from the first Test match against India in the Border-Gavaskar series. Head’s omission was baffling for one and all as he was Australia’s best Test batter of the summer.
In Head’s place, Australia trusted Matthew Renshaw, who had played as an opener in the 2017 tour to India but the move didn’t pay dividends. Head was finally drafted into the team’s final XI in the second Test match and he was able to grab his opportunity.
As David Warner was ruled out with a concussion and also elbow injury, Head opened the innings with Usman Khawaja. Head scored 235 runs in three Test matches at an average of 47 with his best score of 90 coming in the last innings at Ahmedabad.
As the fourth Test match at Ahmedabad ended in a dull draw, India won the series by 2-1.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ Radio’s The Big Sports Breakfast, Clarke said, “Has somebody come out and said, ‘We got it wrong’ yet? Everyone came out at the time and said, ‘We made the right decision’, is it still the right decision to have not picked Travis Head in the first Test match?
Clarke added that Australian selectors also made a mistake when they didn’t pick Steve Smith in their T20 World Cup squad in 2022.
“Being a selector is a tough gig, don’t get me wrong, but we have to admit we got it wrong in not picking Steve Smith in our Twenty20 World Cup campaign, 100 per cent we got that wrong and 100 per cent we got it wrong not picking Travis Head in the first Test match.”So, no coincidence we lost both.”
Clarke went on to add Australia’s performance got better as the series progressed but they made a blunder to drop Travis Head.
“Let’s also see what our preparation is like for that Ashes series, hopefully we’ve learnt from what happened in India as well. Our cricket got better the more we played there, no coincidence.
“Can you imagine as well, Travis Head, a senior player, he’s captained South Australia, his record in the last 12 months outstanding, No.4 ranked Test batter in the world, imagine the shock he would have got being told he’s not being picked and he’s around the group as well.”
The World Cup-winning captain added that it is always difficult for a player to perform when he is playing for the first time in India as the conditions are challenging.
“It’s so hard when you first play there. Even the best players in spin, it’s different.
“It’s a different place to play spin bowling. It takes time to adjust and work out that inconsistent bounce, to work out which shots are appropriate, that variation takes time, you’ve got to give guys an opportunity.
“Even if they started with Travis Head, gave him a couple of Tests and he didn’t perform, the selectors could justify that.”
India and Australia will take on each other in the three-match ODI series.
