Is Travis Head vulnerable early at Gabba and are Shubman Gill’s dwindled overseas returns a concern?

Both require at least two wins from the rest of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to remain on the road and will enter Brisbane with a mishmash of form, confidence and memories. Despite the morale-boosting Adelaide comeback, Pat Cummins’ men will be wary of memories of their last outing at the venue last January, and the the famous ‘21 cauldron breach, when the Indians were in town.

A string of cris-crossing streaks and concerns could likely formulate the talking points this weekend, starting with Australia’s Adelaide Superman.

Head’s Gabba kryptonite

Travis Head’s manic willow-wielding has left Rohit Sharma and Co. in a loop of unending misery since last year. No batter has devastated an opponent as much as Head has inflicted India since 2023 across formats: 19 innings, 1052 runs, average exceeding 60 and scoring rates nearing 100.

The element of luck has stood out sometimes in all the hostility before Head’s onslaughts leave the Indian bowlers numb and rudderless. India have often veered away from simple plans, which may include a deliberate bad delivery early on.

The Gabba has been Head’s kryptonite in this regard. He has had three successive golden ducks here—against West Indies this year and South Africa in 2022.

The first two of the streak had Head swinging down leg, offering regulation edges to the wicket-keeper off Kagiso Rabada and Kemar Roach respectively. The third entry was marked with a fiery ‘round the stumps yorker from the impressive Shamar Joseph who led the Windies to victory with a seven-wicket haul. Head’s impetuousness at the start is something the visitors can inspect closer this time. Since starting his career in whites with a nine-ball duck in Dubai in 2018, Head has been dismissed on zero five more times. Interestingly, four of them were first-ballers, all at home.

Cummins and a Black Prince throwback

While his peers ran the show for the majority of the first two Tests, skipper Cummins regained his composure with a second-inning pink ball fifer that derailed India in Adelaide. And that’s just the kind of gear the opposition wouldn’t have wanted him in before Brisbane.

In seven Tests, Cummins has stacked 44 wickets at the venue; his 38.92 strike-rate is only bettered by Dennis Lillee and Ernie Toshack among Aussies (min. 20 wickets) at the ground.

Toshack is a remarkable throwback to India’s first post-independence tour in 1947. Their landing in Brisbane was mired by the rugged “Black Prince” whose adroit left-arm variations, ranging from snappy pace to slow-medium and fingerspin, decimated India in their maiden Test Down Under.

Toshack claimed figures of 11/31 in the eight-ball over Test, still the benchmark for Australian bowlers at the ground. Toshack’s two significant milestones in the Test remain unbeaten to this day. When India were gunned down for their lowest Test score at the time (58 all out) in Gabba, Toshack stubbed five wickets for only two runs in 2.3 overs – the cheapest five-wicket haul in all Test history. Toshack’s five-wicket burst in 19 deliveries is still the fastest in Test cricket, only equalled by Scott Boland (2021) and Stuart Broad (2015). He backed it up with a second-innings 6/29 – the best of his 12-Test career that would end in 1948 as a part of ‘Bradman’s Invincibles’.

Gill’s overseas jet lag

With the Big 4 bats this series – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne – trudging through the toughest year of their respective Test careers, the source for match-winning runs has been elsewhere at both ends.

In Shubman Gill’s return, India are hoping the newfound top 3 in KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal and himself can mask the frailties of Sharma and Kohli. While No. 3 Gill played two uncharacteristic No. 3 cameos in Adelaide, the scanner will be on the 24-year-old’s unimpressive overseas run since his famous 91 at Gabba three years ago. A rookie then, Gill’s blistering knock provided India the day 5 impetus to run down 325 runs in 95 overs for an epic finish.

The Punjab batter’s contributions though have dwindled since. Gill averages a lowly 23.50 on overseas trips, a concerning figure compared to the rest of India’s active top six. Gill’s only fifty-plus score was a hundred in Bangladesh in this period, across 15 innings. It is unlikely that Gill’s spot in the side will be immediately threatened Down Under, but a timely Gabba reunion could be the fillip to his horoscope over the next four weeks.