Why is Travis Head Opening for Australia in 2nd Innings?

The Australian Cricket Team and the England Cricket Team are locking horns with each other in the first match of the Ashes 2025-26. The match between the two teams is taking place at the Perth Stadium in Perth. Both Australia and England have come up with sensational bowling efforts in the match, with the visitors setting the target of 205 runs. As the hosts came out to bat in the fourth innings, there was a change in the opening combination yet again.

Like the first innings, Usman Khawaja didn’t walk out to open, and it was Travis Head this time who accompanied Jake Weatherald. This caught the attention of many as to why Head came out to open the innings and not Khawaja.

Why is Travis Head Opening in Second Innings Against England?

The reason behind Travis Head's opening 2nd Innings is injury to Usman Khawaja. The left-hander suffered a back injury while fielding in the first innings. He was even off the field for a long time, which forced him to bat at four in the first innings due to a time issue.

On the first day of the match, Pat Cummins provided Usman Khawaja injury update. He said that the opening batter had back spasms but would be fine. However, Khawaja's not coming to bat in the second innings raised a lot of questions. Usman Khawaja came out to bat at four in the first innings. He didn’t have a great outing with the bat as he scored just 2 runs off 6 balls. Australia would be hoping that he recovers before the second test, as he will hold a key for his side in the Ashes.

Travid Head Opening: A Smart Move

The move to open with Travis Head paid off incredibly well for Australia as the opening batter slammed a brutal fifty to take his team close to the target. His innings surely has taken a lot of pressure off Australia as they now look to seal the match and take an early lead in the series. He is showing his class and skills to be counted among the best test batsman in the world.

Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to bat. They had a horrible batting performance, getting all out for just 172 with Harry Brook (52) and Ollie Pope (46) being the top run-getters. For Australia, Mitchell Starc took a seven-fer.

England then came up with an even better bowling performance, ending Australia’s innings for 132, taking a lead of 40 runs. It was expected that the visitors would come up with a decent batting effort and score big. But that wasn’t the case as they got all out for just 164, setting a target of 204. It remains to be seen if the game ends on day two or not and how one of the greatest rivalry in cricket will go in the next matches.