{"id":270321,"date":"2023-02-11T22:37:07","date_gmt":"2023-02-11T23:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=270321"},"modified":"2023-02-12T15:00:28","modified_gmt":"2023-02-12T15:00:28","slug":"psychological-damage-concern-after-head-axing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=270321","title":{"rendered":"'Psychological damage' concern after Head axing"},"content":{"rendered":"

C\ufeffricket legend Mark Taylor<\/a> says Australian star Travis Head<\/a> could be left with "psychological damage" from his shock axing even if he is recalled for the second Test.<\/p>\n

Taylor was one of many stunned at the toss when Pat Cummins unveiled his playing XI<\/a>, with Head, one of Australia's form batters, left out for Matt Renshaw.<\/p>\n

Renshaw managed a golden duck and \ufefftwo in his two digs as Australia were trounced by an innings and 132 runs<\/a> in Nagpur, and is likely to be dropped for Head in the second Test.<\/p>\n

PLAYER RATINGS:<\/strong> Mark Taylor's verdict on Australia's first Test XI\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Aussies 'embarrassed' in record defeat in India<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'Mixed messages' claim follows Aussie shambles\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

However, Taylor warned that Australia's selectors may have caused some irreversible damage by axing Head in the first place.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffI dare say they'll go back to him now for the next Test, but I worry about the psychological damage that may have been done to Travis Head because what the selectors have told him is that they don't have great faith in him on those sorts of pitches," he told Nine's TODAY.<\/p>\n

\"Travis<\/p>\n

"That's not what you need when you're going in to bat in places like India."<\/p>\n

Like many of Australia's top six batters, Head's average in home Tests (57.40) dwarfs his average in away Tests (21.69), with the swashbuckling left-hander particularly struggling on tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year.<\/p>\n

However, Taylor suggested that the only way for Head to improve that record was to continue being exposed to subcontinental conditions.<\/p>\n

"H\ufeffe's 29 years old and he's potentially the future of our middle order and the only way he's going to get better is if he plays in India," he said.<\/p>\n

"He still hasn't played a Test match in India yet, so that's where it surprises me."<\/p>\n

When asked how Australia could reverse its horror result from the opening Test, Taylor pointed to communication being the major key.<\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIt's not impossible," he said.<\/p>\n

"I can think back to 25 years ago to my last couple of Test matches in India. We got beaten in Kolkata by an innings and 220-odd runs in the third Test of that series. In the fourth Test of that series, we turned it around and won by eight wickets, so you can do it.<\/p>\n

"You've got to have belief, and that's the problem because there's been mixed messages sent about Travis Head, to people like Ashton Agar, who was played in Sydney but then didn't play the first Test. That's sending mixed messages.<\/p>\n

"So I hope the communication in that changeroom is right because it needs to be.<\/p>\n

"Australia needs to be clear in their minds and start again on Friday."<\/p>\n

The second Test of the four-match series will get underway on Friday afternoon AEDT at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.<\/p>\n

\ufeff<\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

C\ufeffricket legend Mark Taylor says Australian star Travis Head could be left with "psychological damage" from his shock axing even if he is recalled for […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=270321"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270323,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270321\/revisions\/270323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=270321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=270321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=270321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}