The sight of the Indian bowlers always fires up Travis Head.

Coming into this Australian summer, he had averaged 22 in his last nine Tests. He made 30 and 10 in a Sheffield Shield match before a six-week paternity leave prevented his appearance in the series against Pakistan.

He was by far Australia's best in a losing cause in the first Test but Saturday's hundred in Adelaide is sure to put them in a position of dominance in the series.

His numbers against India are mindboggling. Since 2023, he has hit 1052 runs in 19 innings against India across formats at an average of 61.9 with three centuries, including tons in the WTC final and 2023 ODI World Cup final.

But Mohammed Siraj's volatile send-off after dismissing him for 140 on Saturday dominated the discussions. Head too was disappointed with how his dismissal transpired after Siraj knocked out his stumps.

An infuriated Siraj appeared to exchange a few words and gestured Head towards the dressing room.

“I said ‘well bowled’ but he thought otherwise… when he pointed me to the sheds he got a little bit back from me,” Head said after the day’s play. “I’m slightly disappointed with how that transpired, with a couple of the past innings. It is what it is. If they want to react like that and that’s how they want to represent themselves, then so be it.”

Head had his share of reprieves during his innings, including a dropped catch from Siraj on 76.

“I feel like the way I play the game, I would like a better reaction. I was surprised at the reaction in terms of the situation of the game. There was no confrontation leading up to it. I felt like it was probably a little bit far at the time. That’s why I’m also disappointed in the reaction that I gave back, but I’m also going to stand up for myself.”

Pujara questions plan

Cheteshwar Pujara was unimpressed by the Indian bowlers' plans against Head.

“Head’s weakness is short-pitched deliveries, which is well known to the opposition. But we only saw two-three short-pitched deliveries to him… They could have been used more effectively,” Pujara said on Star Sports.

“He dominates the offside, so we could have curbed his offside stroke-making and instead of a 6-3 (offside-onside)... a 5-4 field placement would have been a good ploy against Head,” he added.