Matt Renshaw disappointed with the bat in the Nagpur test©AFP
Rattled by a humiliating defeat to India in the first Test at Nagpur, the Australian cricket team must go back to the drawing board and devise a strategy to beat India at their own home. While the lack of exhibition games didn’t help the tourists, their decision to play Matt Renshaw over Travis Head also seems to have backfired. While there is a good possibility of Head returning for the second test in Delhi, former Australia captain Michael Clarke feels the Aussies have put themselves in a difficult position.
Clarke believes Head should have been part of Australia’s playing XI at Nagpur. Had the batter failed to score runs, Renshaw could have been picked to replace him. But now Australia is staring at a complex situation.
“Travis Head on No. 5, if you start with him and it doesn’t work then you can change something,” Clarke said on Sky Sports Radio’s Big Sports Breakfast. “Now they’re shooting themselves in the foot when they drop Matthew Renshaw for saying ‘okay we made a mistake’, and Andrew McDonald has come out and said ‘we didn’t make a mistake’. They’ve put themselves in such a difficult position.”
Some rumors suggest Australia could drop David Warner from the team for the Delhi Test, leaving room for the arrival of Travis Head while leaving Matt Renshaw in the playing XI. But there’s also a possibility that a third spinner will be called up on the team, instead of Warner, forcing Head to keep warming up the bench.
With only a few days to go before the second test, Australia has some complex selection interviews to go through.
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