NEW DELHI: Australia opener Travis Head has been released from the ongoing T20I series against India to focus on red-ball preparations ahead of the upcoming Ashes.
The 31-year-old will return home to feature in South Australia's Sheffield Shield clash against Tasmania in Hobart from November 10, joining Alex Carey as he shifts his focus to the longer format before the first Ashes Test, scheduled to begin on November 21 in Perth.
This will mark Head's first first-class appearance since July, when he toured the West Indies. The left-hander has endured a lean run in limited-overs cricket in recent weeks, managing a top score of 31 in eight innings across formats since his 142 against South Africa in August.
Head becomes the third Australian player to step away from the T20I series to fine-tune preparations for the five-Test Ashes campaign against England.
Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott are the others, having both faced India over the course of the first three matches of the T20 series. The pair will now turn out for New South Wales in a star-studded clash with Victoria at the SCG.
The selectors left the decision on whether to play in the Shield or the final two T20Is against India to Head himself, but he opted to feature in the domestic competition, according to a report in cricket.com.au.
The report also said that every member of Australia's likely squad for the first Ashes Test squad will feature in the next round of Sheffield Shield.
Head played one early round of Sheffield Shield leading into last summer's Border-Gavaskar Trophy series and finished as its leading run scorer.
The five-match T20I series between India and Australia are tied 1-1 after three matches. The last two matches will be played at Carrara (November 6) and Brisbane (November 8).
(With PTI Inputs)
