Hard to believe: Steve Waugh on Travis Head's omission from Nagpur Test

Travis Head was dropped for Nagpur Test [Source: Twitter]

Unarguably Australia's best batter in 2022, Travis Head was dropped from the ongoing first Test between India and Australia at Nagpur, which invited criticism from former captain Steve Waugh. 

Known for his outright opinions, Waugh expressed disbelief over Head's axing and called Australia's touring selection party 'geniuses' in an Instagram post.

Peter Handscomb got the green signal to play the Test. Australia won the toss, and captain Pat Cummins wasted no time in opting to bat on a track that looked helpful to spinners.

Here's what Waugh posted

"Hard to believe we can drop the No.4 ranked Test batsman in the world and probably our best batsman in the last 12 months. Plus he bowls better than average off-spin - let's wait and see - maybe the Aussie selectors are geniuses."

Despite averaging 50.38 in 2022, Head had awful tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, where the batter failed to make a mark. 

Handscomb is making a comeback into the Test arena after playing his last red-ball game in 2019 in Sydney.

Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami rocked Australia's top-order, nabbing Usman Khawaja and David Warner cheaply before Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne consolidated. 

As of writing, Australia are 76 for 2 at lunch on Day 1, with Smith and Labuschange batting on 19* and 47*.

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