Head backs form to help India selection

Travis Head insists that runs are runs - and his strong start to the home summer should be able to help cement his spot for February's Test tour of India.

Head's spot had appeared in the most doubt ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after he followed up last year's strong home summer with a tough year in Asia.

Now averaging 56.57 after scoring his fifth Test ton against West Indies in Adelaide on Friday, Head endured tough tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka this year with 91 runs at 15.16.

Coach Andrew McDonald had said at the end of those tours they would carry more weight than the home summer in selecting teams for India, given the significantly different conditions.

But he also argued at the time that Head had taken some significant steps forward batting in Asia, with Usman Khawaja an example of players improving with each tour.

Now, Head has not hurt his chances in the first two Tests against West Indies, with scores of 99 and 175 in Perth and Adelaide.

"Runs are runs," Head said.

"I can't do anything until I get there and the conditions present themselves. All I can do is worry about what we're doing at the moment. 

"You can't look too far in the future or look too far in the past. 

"It's a form-based game, I guess. And all you can go by is how guys are going at the moment. 

"So nice to be contributing. There's that tour coming up and we'll prepare well for it and hopefully I am on it."

The South Australian is, realistically, battling with Peter Handscomb for a spot in the middle order for that tour, with the Victorian in fine form to start the Sheffield Shield season.

Head had made the point in recent weeks that his form in white-ball cricket in Asia had been good, and he saw no reason why he couldn't translate that into Test matches.

His bowling could also be a factor if selected, given he offers something slightly different to Nathan Lyon in his offspinners and is generally effective late in matches.

Head's run of form comes after he struggled for runs in the lead up to the Test summer, at one stage going four straight first-class innings without a score above 10.

"I felt like I was playing really well, but found some interesting ways to get out in that little period," Head said.

"It comes with experience of playing and understanding it's not far away. You can go back to performances and periods. 

"One thing I've been able to always do is come out of form slumps or periods of no runs. 

"I don't think I've gone through a really extended period without trying to find a way to contribute in some way."