Explosive batter Travis Head was a notable absentee in Australia’s net session on Monday ahead of the Boxing Day Test against India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. Head, a batting brute, especially against India, limped between wickets while batting in the second innings of the third Test in Brisbane last Wednesday. Notably, the southpaw didn’t take the field later that day. In the post-match presentation, Head addressed the concerns around him and said, “Just a little sore, but I should be fine (before the next game).”

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a team spokesperson stated that the Monday training session was optional. Australia’s main training session will be held on Tuesday, where Head would need to prove his fitness before the optional training session on Christmas Day.

From Perth to Brisbane, the Australian slugger has been India’s biggest headache. The southpaw has dominated the run-scoring chart by racking up a whopping 409 runs, averaging 81.80, the most by any player across both teams.

The South Australian powerhouse tonked a match-winning 140 in Adelaide, setting up Australia’s 10-wicket triumph. At The Gabba, he put Australia in a near-unbeatable position with his 152-run blitzkrieg.

Steven Smith, who managed to end his Test century draught with a composed 101 last week, took part in a long throwdown session from head coach Andrew McDonald.

Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawja worked diligently amid their forgettable outings across the three Tests. Labuschagne has just had a 50 to his name with his overall tally standing at 82 runs at 16.4.

Khawaja has had a worse time on the crease against the Indian pace express. He has managed to add 63 runs to his name, averaging 12.6.

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.