India vs Australia: Travis Head, Kuldeep Yadav released midway through T20I series
Three matches have been completed in the ongoing T20I series between India and Australia Down Under. With the five-match series opener washed away in Canberra, the contest currently stands level at 1-1, with the Kangaroos winning the second game and the visitors claiming the most recent encounter. Meanwhile, as the India vs Australia clash approaches its business end, both teams have begun focusing on their upcoming assignments. After Josh Hazlewood, Australia have now released Travis Head from their squad to allow the opener to prepare for the Ashes series. On the other hand, the visitors, who will begin the India vs South Africa Test series upon returning home, have sent Kuldeep Yadav back to join the red-ball setup.
India vs Australia T20I series: Australia release Travis Head to focus on Ashes
Travis Head has been released from the T20I squad midway through the India vs Australia series. The Australian opener is set to shift his focus to red-ball cricket in preparation for the Ashes series. The Australian team management has permitted the 31-year-old to return to domestic cricket, leaving the India vs Australia series midway. Head will feature for South Australia in the upcoming Sheffield Shield fixture against Tasmania from November 10, alongside Alex Carey. The move comes as Head transitions back to longer-format rhythms ahead of the first Ashes Test scheduled to begin on November 21 in Perth.
This will be Head’s first first-class outing since Australia’s tour of the West Indies in July. His recent performances in limited-overs cricket have been modest; despite scoring a commanding 142 against South Africa in August, he has managed only 31 runs as his highest score across eight innings in T20I and ODI formats over the past month. Head’s withdrawal marks him as the third Australian player to step away from the T20I squad to prioritise Ashes preparation, following Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott. Both fast bowlers took part in the initial three T20Is before being released to play for New South Wales in a high-profile Sheffield Shield match against Victoria at the SCG.
According to a recent report, the Australian selectors had left the final decision to Head on whether to continue in the T20I series or return to domestic cricket. He opted to participate in the Shield game, aligning with the broader plan wherein nearly every expected Ashes squad member will feature in the upcoming round of first-class matches. Head had followed a similar approach ahead of last year’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and he ended the Shield season as its leading run-scorer.
Kuldeep Yadav returns home ahead of India vs South Africa home Test
Back in India’s camp, a parallel development unfolded. The Indian team management requested the BCCI to release Kuldeep Yadav from the T20I squad currently touring Australia. While the left-arm wrist-spinner was included in the squad for the first two India vs Australia matches of the five-game series, he did not play in the third T20I in Hobart. Kuldeep has been part of the entire white-ball leg of the tour, including the preceding ODI series, where he featured in only the final match in Sydney, claiming one wicket in a fixture notable for possibly being the final appearances of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in Australia.
In the India vs Australia T20Is, Kuldeep Yadav played both the first (washed out) and the second match, picking up two wickets in Melbourne, before being replaced by Washington Sundar. Sundar made an impact with an unbeaten 49 in the third T20I, helping India level the series 1-1. Consequently, the management decided that Kuldeep would be better utilized gaining red-ball match time with India A ahead of the forthcoming two-match India vs South Africa Test series.
Kuldeep is now set to join the India A squad in Bengaluru, where the ongoing red-ball series against South Africa A has already seen the return of Rishabh Pant to competitive cricket. The second four-day fixture starts on November 6. The BCCI stated that releasing Kuldeep is intended “to provide him with red-ball game time in preparation for the upcoming Test series against South Africa.”
The spinner will now link up with other Test regulars currently part of the India A setup, including KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, and Devdutt Padikkal. Meanwhile, the remaining two India vs Australia T20I fixtures will be played in Carrara on November 6 and Brisbane on November 8.
