Travis Head and Steve Smith demolished India’s bowlers on day two at the Gabba, combining for a 241-run partnership as Australia seized control of the third Test.

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Walking to the crease with Australia in a spot of bother at 3-75, Head (152 from 160 balls) launched into a trademark counterpunch before racing towards his ninth Test hundred in 115 deliveries.

Later in the evening session, Smith (101 from 190 balls) broke an 18-month drought to become Australia’s second-leading centurion in Test history, now only sitting behind the legendary Ricky Ponting.

Australia is 7-405 at stumps on day two, with Alex Carey (45*) and Mitchell Starc (7*) unbeaten overnight.

‘DOESN’T FEAR FAILURE’: HEAD DOES IT AGAIN

It’s become a familiar story for Travis Head. We could almost copy-paste the day two report from last week’s Test match in Adelaide.

Australia was 3-75 when he arrived at the crease on Sunday, and India’s bowlers could smell blood. Fresh off a century at Adelaide Oval last week, Head loomed as the key wicket, and the tourists knew they were in control if they got him early.

However, within 30 minutes at the crease, Head had heaped pressure back on India’s bowlers and shifted momentum in Australia’s favour. Lather, rinse, repeat.

“He just comes in and the game changes straight away,” Australian legend Allan Border said on Fox Cricket commentary.

Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri continued: “He’s looked solid today, very composed, not overanxious, just treating the bowling on merit.

“Anything loose, he’s put it away.”

Head’s swashbuckling counterpunch has rescued Australia on several occasions over the last few years – Brisbane 2021, Hobart 2022, Adelaide 2023, to name a few. Opposition captains seem short of answers once he decides to shift gears.

In an attempt to stem the flow of runs, India placed a boundary rider at deep point whenever the South Australian was on strike – but that didn’t prevent him from throwing the kitchen sink whenever width was on offer.

He somehow manages to cut length deliveries on off stump towards the point boundary, which must infuriate rival pace bowlers. As revealed by CricViz, when facing deliveries from quicks on or outside off stump since start of the 2021/22 Ashes, the left-hander has averaged 77 with a strike rate of 101.

During the afternoon session, twice he ramped India’s quicks over the wicketkeeper’s head for four runs, also slapping spinner Ravindra Jadeja down the ground for consecutive boundaries. No matter where they bowled, Head managed to pick the gaps.

“He changes the momentum of the game,” former Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin said on commentary.

“He hits good balls to parts of the ground that’s unorthodox.”

Head passed fifty in 71 deliveries, but only needed a further 44 balls to reach triple figures. He celebrated in what’s quickly becoming trademark fashion – sitting his helmet on the grip of his bat and saluting the sold-out crowd with raised arms.

Even new-found rival Mohammed Siraj felt obliged to give Head a congratulatory pat on the back as the players walked off for the tea break.

“At the base of his success, is Travis Head walks in and detaches from consequence; he doesn’t fear failure,” former Australian spinner Kerry O’Keeffe said on Fox Cricket commentary.

“He doesn’t lookout the scorecard, he looks at the bowling and the pitch … it’s what you strive for in cricket.”

This summer, Head has mustered more runs than Australia’s top four combined. Both of his centuries have come at a run-per-ball, or close to it.

It’s been fearless, enthralling cricket from the South Australian.

MORE PRAISE FOR INDIAN NEWCOMER DESPITE TOUGH DAY

Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has been praised for his approach to Test cricket when thriving through a baptism of fire on Australian soil this summer.

The 21-year-old has played with dare in the lower order for India in his four innings so far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, scoring 41 and an unbeaten 38 in Perth and then making successive 42s at Adelaide Oval during a match in which his teammates struggled.

He enjoyed some initial success with the ball on Sunday when tempting Marnus Labuschagne to lash at a wide delivery, with an edge flying to Virat Kohli.

But as the ball started to soften, Reddy got his first real demonstration on an individual basis of just how challenging Test cricket an be as Travis Head and Steve Smith went after him.

After restricting Australia early, Reddy was the target of a sustained assault from the Australian stars and conceded 55 runs from his 11 overs in a sobering second session.

The lesson aside, there is an air of optimism surrounding the debut series from Reddy amid hopes he might be able to follow in the footsteps of an iconic Indian all-rounder.

India was blessed with one of history’s finest all-rounders in Kapil Dev and between the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests, a number of Indian publications pondered whether Reddy was the man who could become a star for this generation.

Reddy, who performed well for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League earlier in the year, is clearly a talent with the bat in hand and has now secured a wicket in each Test.

Fox Cricket expert analyst Adam Gilchrist is a fan of the newcomer, noting he has shown an ability to bat at different tempos depending on the situation in a match and believes he is capable of batting every higher in the order than his current position at No.7.

“He’s looked every inch a Test cricketer in everything he’s been asked to do,” Gilchrist said.

“He has picked up a couple of wickets … but his batting. (He has a) very sound defence, but then he can quickly flip over to offence.”

In a chat with Harsha Bhogle for Indian cricket website Cricbuzz, Gilchrist noted the support he provided to Virat Kohli in Perth as evidence of his ability to assess the balance in a match.

“He had a lovely partnership with Virat over there in Perth (and) provided that bit of resistance in Adelaide,” Gilchrist said.

“Just his stroke play, he is well-based on a sound defence, but quickly flips into offence whenever he needs to. I think he’s looked very calm (and) composed and if he is required in the team for an extended period, he will go a little bit higher than where he has been at the moment in the batting order.”

‘HE’S AN ENIGMA’: SMITH ENDS DROUGHT AFTER SWITCH

“The crab’s arrived in Brisbane!”

Steve Smith, forever tinkering with his batting stance, brought back his trigger movement across the pitch at the Gabba – and it paid dividends.

The trademark shuffle, which brought him success during the 2019 Ashes, was scrapped after the first innings of the Perth Test, when Indian weapon Jasprit Bumrah trapped him on the pads for a golden duck.

However, facing his first delivery in the Queensland capital on Sunday, Smith walked across his cease with an accentuated lunge, which immediately raised eyebrows in the commentary box.

“I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone fiddle around so much with different techniques,” former Australian captain Allan Border said on Fox Cricket.

“The third Test match and he’s tried three or four different methods already … I don’t know many players who have done that type of tinkering with their technique.”

In Perth and Brisbane, Smith’s toes ended up outside off stump following his trigger movement, a drastic change from his stance in Adelaide, where he didn’t move further than middle stump.

“It’s just an absolute, complete different set up,” World Cup champion David Warner declared.

“We saw his weight fall to the off side last match, but here he’s just gone almost a complete 360.”

Former England bowler Isa Guha responded: “That’s why he’s an enigma, I guess.”

Between deliveries, Smith flapped his wrists towards square leg, imitating the glance stroke that has repeatedly thwarted him over the last 12 months. Adding to the theatrics, Smith brought back his extravagant lightsaber motion, flailing the willow above his head while leaving the ball outside off.

Despite the change, Smith initially didn’t look comfortable while facing deliveries on his stumps. In the 31st over, the right-hander almost tripped over himself while attempting to clip Indian seamer Mohammed Siraj through mid-wicket. Not long after, Siraj appealed for LBW after Smith left a delivery that nipped in and struck him on the kneeroll, but the Australian vice-captain was saved by Umpire’s Call following a review.

Later in the morning session, Indian quick Akash Deep was adamant he had trapped Smith on the pads, only for replays to confirm the thinnest of inside edges.

Smith’s shuffle became less accentuated as the innings progressed, perhaps an indication he was starting to feel settled in the middle. While most of his runs before reaching fifty were through the leg side, he began scoring in all corners of the Brisbane venue towards the end of the afternoon session.

“I’ve changed my set-up pretty much every game I’ve played for the last 15 years,” Smith told reporters at stumps.

“It’s nothing new to me. I try and adapt and figure out the best way to play for each surface that I’m facing.

“This one is a pretty bouncy track, so I was batting out of my crease a little bit, trying to get at the bowler going across my stumps, but leaving my left leg a little bit open.

“Perhaps when I’ve been, when doing my double trigger, getting my left leg a little bit too closed, and those balls that are skidding, I’ve probably struggled to get my bat down in time.

“I thought my movements were pretty good today, maybe a little bit bigger than I would have liked early on.”

With triple figures approaching, Smith was in sublime touch. A full-blooded on drive, a powerful cut stroke, a glance off the hips; it was the best he’d looked in the middle for years.

Smith’s animated century celebration, which featured an exuberant swipe towards the dugout, was accompanied by a sense of relief. It had arrived after the longest century drought of his Test career, 25 knocks without a hundred, while Sunday’s performance has put an end to any speculation about his future in the national side.

He now boasts 33 Test hundreds, second behind former captain Ricky Ponting, while nobody had more centuries against India.

Smith’s back.

‘CAN COST YOU BIG TIME’: SHARMA’S CAPTAINCY UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

As Head zoomed closer to another century, he struck one cut shot so powerfully that Virat Kohli scarcely had time to react despite it passing by him within catching range.

But the position of the champion batter, who was standing square of the bat about 20m from the South Australian powerhouse, was among the perplexing positions the Indians adopted.

That is what Head does when at his most damaging. He scrambles the minds of his rivals.

After his heroics in Adelaide, Pat Cummins said that if he was an opposition captain, he would hate to have to bowl to him given his capacity to score all around the ground.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, who has faced questions given his nation has lost their lost four games under his command, was clearly at a loss as to where to place his field as well.

With Head within range of his century, former Indian coach Ravi Shastri said that the field being set for the left-hander was neither here nor there, which assisted the Aussie. It also spoke to a broader issue with his side’s seeming unwillingness to risk getting hit to the boundary, in exchange for a potential wicket.

“When you see the field set, that can cost you big time,” Shastri said.

“I mentioned some time ago that the idea might be to contain and see if a wicket comes, but you are not going to contain Australia setting this field.

“With these two players playing the way they are, and Head in particular, looking to get a boundary every over. There is absolutely no doubt about that. He will get it.

“Then the problems start if five fielders are out at the boundary and he is still getting the boundary, he is getting seven or eight runs an over easily. The runs are there to be taken.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan also criticised Sharma’s reluctance to commit to a plan for longer than a couple of overs.

“They don’t settle on a tactic for long enough,” Vaughan told Fox Cricket.

“Are they trying to snick him off? Why don’t they try to bounce him out?

“Why don’t they go full and wide, pack the off side?”

Fellow Fox Cricket expert Kerry O’Keeffe felt that Sharma was too negative with his field placements.

“I don’t think Rohit Sharma has had his best day as skipper,” he said.

“He will say the pitch was so good that we were just trying to control it with outfielders, but you had to pressure Australia and get them out.”

INDIA UNEARTHS KHAWAJA BLUEPRINT

India has seemingly unearthed the blueprint for thwarting Usman Khawaja, with chief weapon Jasprit Bumrah knocking over the Australian opener for a third time in the series on Sunday.

Khawaja, unbeaten on 19 overnight, crunched his first delivery of day two through the covers before Bumrah adjusted his length, with the change immediately causing him discomfort.

Following an appeal for LBW, Bumrah’s next two deliveries beat the left-hander’s outside edge – and it was third time’s the charm for India.

Pitching on a good length in the channel, Khawaja prodded without much footwork and tickled the Kookaburra through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, who accepted his 150th catch in Tests. After 24 hours, the opening stand had finally been broken.

Each of Khawaja’s four dismissals in the series to date have come from right-armed seamers bowling around the wicket. Bumrah has knocked the Queenslander over on three occasions, each time caught in the cordon, averaging 5.67 per dismissal.

Khawaja’s Gabba dismissal pitched 6.7 metres from the stumps, while 35 per cent of Bumrah’s deliveries to him were on a good length in the channel.

India has discovered a plan for taming Khawaja, and it’s working.

“That’s the area where Bumrah will look to get as many deliveries to the left-hander,” Australian legend Adam Gilchrist said on Fox Cricket commentary.

“He’s immediately made the adjustment (this morning).”

Former Australian opener David Warner continued: “He just set him up very, very nicely.

“It was just the angle that he created, (it) forces Khawaja to play at the ball.”

Bumrah’s radar was off on Saturday, with the Indian quick repeatedly spraying down the leg side and allowing Khawaja to settle into his innings. Despite wasting the new ball during his opening spell, he was back to his best on Sunday morning, removing both of Australia’s openers within the first 30 minutes of action.

“Big adjustment from yesterday … he was far too straight yesterday,” former Indian coach Ravi Shastri said.

“Today, bang on the money.”

Bumrah finished the day with 5-72 from 25 overs, including seven maidens. He’s the leading wicket-taker of the series with 17 scalps at 12.17.