India’s Bumrah to go down as one of the greats: Head

Australia's batsmen were dominated by Jasprit Bumrah in Perth but Travis Head said they are looking forward to another round against the Indian spearhead, who he believes will be come to regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers in history.

Captaining India in place of Rohit Sharma, Bumrah took eight wickets to lead the tourists to a resounding 295-run win in the series-opener at Perth Stadium.

He could prove even more of a handful with the pink ball in the day-night Test starting in Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Head, who top-scored for Australia with 89 in the second innings in Perth before nicking off to Bumrah, said his batting teammates were working on different plans to handle the quick.

“They are not coming to me for batting tips, that’s for sure,” he said in Adelaide on Monday.

“Everyone goes about it in different ways — we’re all supporting each other.

“Jasprit’s going to go down as probably one of the greatest fast bowlers to play the game.

“I think we’re finding that at the moment, how challenging he can be, and it’s nice to play against that.

“It’s going to be nice to look back at your career and tell the grandkids that you faced him, so not a bad series to be playing with him.”

Head dismissed talk of a rift between the batters and bowlers in the Australian team sparked by comments paceman Josh Hazlewood made as the hosts stared down the barrel of defeat in Perth.

Asked how Australia could turn things around against India, Hazlewood said: “You probably have to ask one of the batters that question.

“I’m sort of relaxing and trying to get a bit of physio and a bit of treatment, and I’m probably looking mostly towards the next Test and what plans we can do against these batters.”

Head said there was no divide in the camp.

“This team’s been together for three to four years, the guys get along really well,” he said.

“We hold high expectations for both sides and it’s a very individualised sport.

“The batters want to hold our own. We know how good our bowlers have been for us in the past, and they've got us out of trouble a lot.” 

Reuters