Will Travis Head play in Melbourne? Australia coach McDonald optimistic
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald is hopeful about star batter Travis Head's availability for the upcoming fourth Test against India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Head had suffered a minor quad strain during his second innings in the recently-concluded 3rd Test in Brisbane. However, despite the setback, he has continued training at the MCG ahead of the Boxing Day Test.
McDonald confident in Head's recovery
McDonald admitted that Head still has some things to work on but wasn't worried about his readiness for the next match. He said, "Has he got some things to work through? Yeah, he has." McDonald added, "There's no concern at the moment. Has he been officially ticked off? I'm not sure. I didn't see the sort of back-end of his training session there, but I'm pretty confident he'll play."
McDonald confirms Konstas's inclusion in Australia's XI
Along with giving an update on Head's condition, McDonald also confirmed that Sam Konstas will be a part of Australia's Playing XI for the MCG Test. This comes after Nathan McSweeney was axed from the squad. McDonald praised Konstas's ability to dominate the opposition, echoing chief selector George Bailey's earlier comments about introducing something different against India with Konstas's inclusion.
McDonald backs Khawaja despite recent struggles
Despite opener Usman Khawaja's recent struggles to score runs, McDonald expressed confidence in him to bounce back in the next two Tests. He said, "I think he's fine, Usman's not a concern. Batting in recent times obviously has been quite difficult, with ball dominating bat." McDonald added good players always return to the runs and he expects this will be the case for Khawaja over the next couple of Test matches.
McDonald confirms Boland's inclusion, Marsh's fitness for MCG Test
McDonald also confirmed Australia will make at least two changes, with Konstas replacing Nathan McSweeney, and Scott Boland replacing the injured Josh Hazlewood. He said, "If we didn't pick Scotty here, and I'm not allowed to declare the team, because that's Pat's job tomorrow." Further, all-rounder Mitchell Marsh remains fully fit and available to bowl after back issues have been troubling him since September.
