Travis Head eyes Test call-up for India tour

Travis Head, the Australia batsman, has revealed his unwavering desire to play Test cricket but believes he needs to get 'runs on the board'.
 
The 22-year-old is a rising star in Australia and arguably the country's most alluring talent after a spectacular past 12 months. Head scored three centuries in last season's Sheffield Shield to be named the competition's Player of the Year and also dazzled in the shorter formats.


Last month, Head scored 175 for Yorkshire in England's domestic one-day cup in another eye-catching display. The left-handed batsman made his Twenty20 international (T20I) debut against India in January and played his first One-Day International (ODI) against the West Indies in June in a sure sign that the selectors have earmarked Head as a potential future star.
 
Head made only 10 in Australia's three-wicket ODI victory against Sri Lanka in Colombo but believed he was well prepared for the tricky subcontinental conditions. "For the limited time I did bat the other night (on Sunday), I felt comfortable," Head told the media on Tuesday (August 23). "I felt like I had a good game plan. I feel like I'm there or thereabouts."
 
Essentially replacing the axed Glenn Maxwell, Head hoped to improve his off-breaks in a bid to cement a middle-order position in the team. "I'm pretty raw still with my bowling," he said. "If I can do as much bowling as possible and make myself a genuine spinner, that's my goal."
 
After a horrendous Test whitewash in Sri Lanka, Australia's misfiring batting line-up has once again come under fire with top-order batsmen Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja dropped for the dead rubber third Test.
In recent years, Australia's batting has heavily relied on the brilliance of captain Steve Smith and belligerent opener David Warner but Head's emergence is a welcome tonic for the team's bid to reclaim the No. 1 Test ranking they lost after Sri Lanka's 3-0 sweep.
 
Head has therefore been mooted a chance to make his Test debut during Australia's tour of India early next year having played against India A in Chennai in 2015. "I played one four-day game in India when I was there last and I got two starts," Head said. "I got a 50 and a 30 and I had a pretty good game-plan, pretty similar to how I played the other night. I'm always going to be positive and aggressive."
 
Despite the hype, the South Australian said he remained level-headed. "That's my ambition (to play Test cricket)," he said. "It's a long way away, that Test series (against India). I've got to have a big summer. I've got to get runs on the board," he concluded.