Australia have received a massive boost for the Boxing Day Test with in-form batter Travis Head cleared to play.
Pat Cummins declared Head “fully fit” at his Christmas Day media conference but said they may have to manage his quad strain while he is in the field.
“It feels like the 12 months he has been in this unbelievable vein of form and he keeps going on with it,” he said.
“He’s hitting the ball really cleanly. You can see the pressure he shifts back onto the opposition literally the first ball that he walks out there.
“I’m loving that he’s in our team and I don’t have to try and set a field and bowl to him. He’s hitting the ball as well as I’ve ever seen anyone and long may it continue.”
After hurting himself on the final day of the third Test at the Gabba, the star left-hander was given every opportunity to prove his fitness to take on India.
After not training on Monday earlier, the star left-hander had a short stint in the MCG nets on Tuesday when he received throwdowns for about 20 minutes.
Head had a long conversation with coach Andrew McDonald and team physio Nick Jones before going back into the rooms.
With Head good to go, it is be gigantic boost for Australia’s hopes of regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with the series squared at 1-1 with two matches to come..
The 30-year-old has been in rare form, smashing centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane to certify himself as India’s most in-demand wicket.
Head has made 409 runs at an average of 81.80 across the first three Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series, dominating India even as the rest of Australia’s batters have faced significant issues against Jasprit Bumrah.
Sam Konstas has been confirmed to debut, ensuring he will become the fourth youngest Australian Test player in history.
Sam Konstas. (Photo by Josh Chadwick/Getty Images)
Victorian seamer Scott Boland will also come in for the injured Josh Hazlewood.
Cummins, who also made his Test debut as a teenager, said he hopes Konstas plays the game like he’s “in the backyard”.
“You just want to take the game on, have fun and not overthink it,” he said. “That’s the message to Sam. Once the game starts, you go into game mode and it’s just like any other game.
“I said this to Sam the other day I remember as an 18-year-old I was thinking I got more leeway because I was young, almost publicly. I almost felt like if I didn’t have a great game, it wasn’t my fault, it was the selectors’ fault for picking me.
“It was like ‘well they’re the idiots that picked an 18-year-old’. You’re so young starting out your career. It’s Boxing Day, it doesn’t get any better than this so just enjoy the moment.”
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