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Travis Head will replace Sam Konstas as Usman Khawaja’s opening partner in the first test against Sri Lanka on Wednesday in Galle, Australia’s stand-in skipper Steve Smith announced on Tuesday.

Head was the top scorer when Australia recaptured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a decade with a 3-1 series win earlier this month.

Teenage opener Konstas impressed in the last two tests against India, but Australia chose Head’s experience over his lack of aggression.

In Australia’s previous assignment, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, the team decided to give Nathan McSweeney his Test debut, opening the batting. Due to his lack of results, they opted to replace him with Sam Konstas, who impressed on debut.

“It’s going to be good fun watching him”- Steve Smith on Travis Head as an opener

Captain Steve Smith has not ruled out placing Konstas elsewhere in the order for the match, which begins in Galle on Wednesday, with a vacancy at No.5.

However, the decision to promote Head could result in Konstas missing his first Test debut in subcontinental circumstances, reverting to a format employed on previous tours, and possibly being more adaptable in their batting order to the conditions and match situations.

“He (Head) did really nicely in India against the new ball. He put spinners under pressure immediately and we know how well he hits the seam as well if they come with that. It’s going to be good fun watching him,” stand-in skipper, Steve Smith was quoted as saying in a report by Cricbuzz.

Smith, who did not reveal too much about their starting lineup for the series opener, hinted that even if Konstas does not play, he may still use the time in the nets to help him adjust to the conditions.

Steve Smith says Sam Konstas will get a lot of practice even if he doesn’t play

Smith reminisced on his own career, noting that he missed a few games in 2013 but learned a lot during his net sessions.

“He’s going to have a lot of practice over here if he doesn’t play, which, in itself, is great as well for development. You know, I only have to think back to 2013 I think, where I didn’t play the first few tests, and just the amount of balls I was hitting in the nets, and the skills I was able to develop from facing loads of net bowlers and things like that. So whether he plays or not, I think it’s going to be a wonderful experience for him. He’s going to learn a lot,” he shared.

As for their playing 11, Smith mentioned that the final decision could be taken on matchday.

“We’ll wait and see what we get, probably the morning of the game, and then go from there. But things can change pretty quickly, in this part of the world, the sun hasn’t been out a great deal. So we’ll have another look at the wicket, and then from there, we’ll name a team at the toss,” he concluded.

Both the Test matches between Sri Lanka and Australia will be played in Galle Stadium

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