Former cricketer Ian Chappell has cautioned Australia against using Travis Head as an opener in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scheduled to begin on November 22. Following David Warner’s retirement from Test cricket, Australia has been exploring potential opening options, with Steve Smith briefly filling the role, but without much success.

Travis Head, who boasts impressive records against India, has emerged as a key candidate for the position. However, Chappell believes this might not be the best strategy for the high-stakes Test series.

Chappell emphasized that while Head’s aggressive approach has proven effective in limited-overs formats like ODIs and T20s, Test cricket presents an entirely different challenge. He argued that if Australia were to open with Head, it would likely be an attempt to start the innings aggressively, but he expressed doubts about whether this tactic would succeed against India’s pace attack, led by Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

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“Head’s success against the new ball in ODIs and T20s is well-documented, and his aggressive style suits those formats perfectly. However, Test cricket is an entirely different proposition,” Ian Chappell wrote in his column for ESPNcricinfo. He added, “Any move to open with Head to unsettle Bumrah would be asking a lot. Bumrah, and to a lesser extent, Siraj, are unlikely to be rattled by such a strategy.”

Chappell also noted that Head might be more valuable if Australia already had runs on the board, as this would allow him to settle in before facing the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin. Nevertheless, he pointed out that Ashwin is unlikely to be troubled by Head’s aggressive play, especially if the Indian captain deploys the off-spinner with a relatively new ball.

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“R Ashwin is too experienced to be panicked by an ultra-aggressive approach. Some might argue that opening with Head would help him face Ashwin more comfortably with runs on the board. But a smart captain could still use Ashwin effectively with a new ball,” Ian Chappell concluded.