Konstas to debut but Head still in doubt for Boxing Day Test

NSW young gun Sam Konstas will make his debut for Australia in the Boxing Day Test, but doubt remains over Travis Head after the batter had a short session in the nets at training on Tuesday.

Coach Andrew McDonald said he was “really confident” Head would play on Boxing Day but said he needed to “tick off boxes” to be cleared to take part. The batting dynamo has been battling a quad issue and took only 25 minutes of throw-downs from assistant coach Brad Hodge on the first of four pitches the Australians could use in the MCG nets.

Travis Head during his short net session on Tuesday.Credit: Getty Images

He then had a brief chat with McDonald and physiotherapist Nick Jones before leaving in what onlookers agreed was a disappointed, even frustrated, manner.

It was an unusually short session for Head compared to his top-order teammates, who typically work their way through at least two of the nets.

One net featured pace aces Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins and frontline spinner Nathan Lyon, in which they battled Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne, two batsmen struggling for form. Khawaja nicked off to Starc and Cummins in an intense workout.

Head had earlier completed catching drills on the MCG but with minimal running. He had bypassed batting in an optional training session on Monday, but team management said he had completed running drills and gym work.

McDonald said he was confident Head would play, but he still needed to prove his full fitness.

“I am really confident that he will play. Has he got some things to work through? Yes, he has. There are concerns at the moment. I am pretty confident that he will play,” McDonald said.

McDonald said the medical staff would assess what risks there are should Head play, having been hurt while running between wickets in the second innings in Brisbane.

“No concerns from my end. He has been able to do his running. I think he will be fully functional come game time,” McDonald said.

He said the chat in the nets with Head and physiotherapist Jones had been about Head’s role in the field.

“It was a little chat. It was more around his fielding position and what he is capable of there. Clearly, coming off a strain, obviously with the demands of bat pad, that’s all that was about. My question to Nick Jones was what he has to do to finish off the session,” McDonald said.

Konstas was in good touch in the nets and will become the fourth-youngest Test debutant in Australian history. He has replaced the axed Nathan McSweeney, declaring he is ready to partner Khawaja at the top of the order where he will face the challenge of negating Indian superstar Jasprit Bumrah on a pitch curator Matt Page says will aid fast bowling.

McDonald said Konstas was composed and relaxed and “knew his game”.

“He is in a good place at the moment, so he will play, he will play Boxing Day,” he said.

“We have said from the get-go, leading into this summer, that we wouldn’t shy away and age is no barrier. What he has shown is an array of shots, an ability to put pressure back on to opponents, and he gets his opportunity. We are really excited for him, Boxing Day, the biggest stage.”

Australia are desperate for Head to play in the crucial fourth Test, beginning on Thursday, as he is the only local batter to consistently fire this series, with centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane. With the series locked at 1-1, he is pivotal to the home team’s hopes of reclaiming the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.

Should Head not play, the uncapped Josh Inglis, the spare batsman in the touring squad and an aggressive middle-order batter, shapes as the likely replacement.

Another consideration would be all-rounder Beau Webster, although he has joined the squad predominantly as cover for Mitch Marsh. Webster can bowl medium-pace and, if required, off-spin.

Marsh managed just two overs in Brisbane, but McDonald said that was because of the state of the game, not Marsh’s ongoing battle with back soreness. He said Marsh, who came off his full run-up at training on Tuesday, was capable of playing a “role” with the ball in Melbourne, while also backing veteran opener Khawaja to come good after a lean campaign.

McDonald said the MCG pitch, with its current green tinge, resembles what had been rolled in recent seasons, encouraging teams to bowl first. However, because of temperatures expected to top 40C on Thursday, he said Australia would strongly consider batting first should Pat Cummins win the toss.

Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma did not rule out a move back to the top of the order.

Rohit has been out of form since returning for the second Test, having dropped himself to the middle order to allow KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to remain as openers.

However, Rohit on Tuesday refused to confirm whether he would remain in the middle order.

“Who bats where, we need to figure it out ourselves. Whatever gives us the best chance to succeed, we will do that,” he said.

Rohit has only 19 runs at an average of 6.33 in three innings through Adelaide and Brisbane. That he has fallen leg before wicket, bowled and caught behind is a sign of man struggling with his footwork.

His woes here have compounded a miserable year in which he has only 152 runs in his past 13 innings at an average of 11.7, with one half-century.

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