Travis Head has revealed he pushed back hard against the selectors’ contested decision to drop him for the Nagpur Test, and believes he showed enough in Delhi to indicate his aggressive approach will reap rewards in the remaining two matches.

The call to leave out Head for Matt Renshaw on day one of the Border-Gavaskar series brought a host of outspoken reactions, not least from Steve Waugh, and the noise only increased after a heavy defeat.

After reshaping his game against spin following two underwhelming tours to Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year, Head was blunt in his conversations with tour selectors Tony Dodemaide and Andrew McDonald on match eve in Nagpur.

“It was something that I didn’t expect coming here,” Head said in Delhi. “The conversations were robust. Everyone has different opinions. I respect the coaching staff and selectors and I have a really strong relationship with them. I think that’s what made the conversations the way they went, because there’s respect that goes both ways and we were able to voice our opinions.

“And I woke up the next morning and I’m still on tour playing for Australia, I still get to do what I love to do. I’d love to be competing and playing but there’s another way I can support the guys the best I could and prepare the best way I could for another opportunity. I still feel like I’m in a great space. It’s just one week that didn’t go my way.”

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In Delhi, Head’s second innings 43 was festooned with attacking shots that, momentarily at least, put India’s spin bowlers and captain Rohit Sharma on the back foot. They recalibrated for the third morning, and Head’s thin edge behind off Ravichandran Ashwin started a drastic slide to 2-0 down in the four-Test series.

While the conversations are yet to be had, Head is highly likely to remain at the top of the order for the rest of the series without the injured David Warner, who flew home this week.

“They’re extremely skilful bowlers, but I was really pleased with the way I was going forward and back and watching length and a few of the things I’d worked on,” he said. “It was a small sample piece but over here small sample pieces can be a little bit of gold.“