Head, who fractured his left hand during Australia's South Africa tour last month, missed his team's first four matches at the World Cup in India.
South Africa dug deep to deny Australia a 3-0 series sweep with a battling draw in the rain-disrupted third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday, finally finding some fight on the final day of a miserable tour.
Meanwhile, Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj and left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav were placed third and seventh respectively.
Images from Day 1 of the fourth Test between Australia and India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.
Sean Abbott and Beau Webster, seasoned domestic cricketers, remain on the fringes of Australia's Test squad
'...there'll be nerves and a bit of pressure, but that's all part of it, and I'm just excited to see what it all brings.'
Australia's cricketing DNA is constructed by meticulousness and Pakistan's by explosiveness.
Stand-in skipper Matthew Wade has lauded the depth of Australia's T20 team and says selectors will have a headache picking a World Cup squad following the whitewash in New Zealand.
Currently, India leads the World Test Championships table with Australia in second place.
Australia have rested their frontline fast bowlers from a Sheffield Shield clash in Perth to keep them fresh ahead of the four-Test home series against India, starting early next month.
'Virat Kohli is getting into the groove ahead of the #WTC23 Final'.
Hanuma Vihari, part of India's back to back series wins in Australia, reckons the services of veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara will be be dearly missed when the team aims for a hat-trick Down Under later this year.
Josh Hazlewood was the pick of Australia's bowlers, taking 3-22 in addition to his miserly Super Over, capping a brilliant weekend for the 31-year-old after he was bought for $1 million in the Indian Premier League auction on Saturday.
'I think there was a fair bit of good bowling today. Obviously there was enough in the wicket and it probably felt like it was a hardball wicket.'
The ICC Champions Trophy is set to kick off in Pakistan, marking the country's first ICC event since the 1996 World Cup.
Pakistan's experienced wicketkeeper-batter Sarfaraz Ahmed laid out the team's plans to ruin Australia's star batter David Warner's farewell Test series.
Cricket Australia's new CEO, Nick Hockley and Todd Greenberg, the CEO of the Australian Cricketers' Association will also make an appearance.
'This team was incredibly difficult to select over such a highly competitive tournament. Selections were based predominantly on the Super 12 onward to the final.'
They will, however, only be able to join their respective franchises after Australia play their lone T20 match against Pakistan on April 5.
Australia's mouthwatering clash with India sees the two behemoths of the modern game go head-to-head in five tests over six weeks with the tourists eyeing a third straight series triumph Down Under.
Rohit Sharma gave a huge compliment to India's spin-bowling pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja
Yashasvi Jaiswal has smashed 655 runs in four Tests against England with two fifties and as many centuries.
'RCB will make decision regarding captaincy after mega auction'
The biggest positives with the bat in Perth were Virat Kohli regaining his rhythm and Jaiswal's coming of age hundred in his debut Test in Australia. Both will look to build on those significant gains in Adelaide.
Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Dwayne Bravo stole the limelight from Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal.
Australia's grizzly-haired veterans brought all their big-game experience to the fore
The two teams last met in the ODI World Cup in 2023. It was in Mumbai where Glenn Maxwell had played a once-in-a-generation knock to notch up a sensational double hundred while battling cramps all over his body, with Pat Cummins in tow who provided sturdy support from the other end.
Rahul's team-mate Marcus Stoinis has also been reprimanded for breaching an the IPL Code of Conduct during the same match which RCB won by 18 runs on Tuesday night.
In the previous update, India had more points in their kitty despite being tied with Australia at 118 rating points each.
'(Bumrah) is so unique, and that's with any of the bowlers, really. Every (batter) picks up different cues and goes about it in a different way.'
The left-hander dropped his bat and slumped to his knees after an attempted hook shot went awry at Marrara Oval in Darwin on Tuesday, but quickly picked himself up and walked off the ground unassisted.
Melbourne will host the traditional Boxing Day Test before the final match is played at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3.
Travis Head likes the way England skipper Ben Stokes and Head coach Brendon McCullum are leading the English Test team.
All-rounder James Faulkner has been named captain of Australia's 'A' team for the four-day series against India 'A' and South Africa 'A' in July and August, Cricket Australia said on Friday.
Pakistan replaced veteran stumper Sarfaraz Ahmed with Mohammad Rizwan for the second match of the three-Test series.
Images from Day 2 of the first Test between Australia and India in Perth on Saturday.
Australia will aim to secure a Super Eight berth when they face lower-ranked Namibia
Former Australian coach John Buchanan on Thursday congratulated Jay Shah on becoming the International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman and expressed hope that the incumbent Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary will be able to make all three formats of international cricket a priority for all in the age of T20 franchise cricket.
Australia's pacer Josh Hazlewood says he saw a 'few cracks' while rattling their top-order in their World Cup league clash last month.
Smith ruled out; Cummins, Warner rested for white-ball tour.
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