Sept 20 (Askume) – Travis Head is set to open the innings in the home series against India after scoring another hundred for Australia.
Head smashed an unbeaten 154 off 129 balls as world champions Australia defeated England by 7 wickets in the first ODI at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
It was Australia’s highest score in a bilateral ODI in England, having beaten England by 19 wickets in the T20 opener just a week earlier.
Hyde had set a record for power-hitting with the bat by scoring 80 runs off 25 balls in a T20 match against Scotland two weeks ago.
Hyde’s emergence as a key player across all formats is timely for Australia, as David Warner was the last player to feature in the opener for the national team.
Warner’s exit from international cricket left a major void in the Test team, which Steve Smith was unable to fill as an opener despite batting well at number 4.
Smith made an unbeaten 91 against the West Indies but it was his only half-century in eight innings.
Head, who has played the majority of his 49 Tests in the middle of the batting order, has performed well since returning to the team in late 2021 after nearly a year away.
However, he played the role of opener when Warner was injured during the tour of India last year.
He performed well despite the defeat, scoring an unbeaten 49 in Indore and an unbeaten 90 in Ahmedabad.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has almost confirmed that the top six batsmen from the 2-0 win over New Zealand in the last tour will retain their places in the five-Test home series against India.
However, there is likely to be a reshuffle in the order, and a significant effort is being made to return Smith to his recognised fourth position.
Current opener Usman Khawaja has no problem with who should join him at the top of the order.
“I think Travis Head is the best man for the job,” he told Australian pay-TV channel Fox Cricket last week.
“He’s obviously very successful at opening the batting in one-day cricket and tearing it apart, which probably works in my favour.
“The trust shifted.”
However, when Hyde was asked for his opinion on the matter, he declined to offer any advice.
“Keep talking, it’ll make things interesting,” Head told reporters at Trent Bridge.
“I don’t get involved in it. I let it evolve naturally.”
