Travis Head has been a constant thorn to India, continuing his domination over Rohit Sharma's side in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under with back to back centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane.

While he failed to score a hundred and ended with 89 in the second innings at Perth, where India emerged winners by 295 runs, Head has registered scores of 140 and 152 in the following two Tests, helping Australia get back into the series by scoring a total of 409 runs at a stellar average of 81.80 across five innings so far in this series.

With the two centuries in the ongoing series, Head added his third hundred against India in Test in addition to his ODI World Cup-winning hundred in 2023.

Indian bowlers have caught the other Australian batters off guard, but have failed to find a way to negate Head.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Sanjay Bangar have given some tips on how Indian bowlers can trouble Head heading into the Boxing Day Test, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday (December 26) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.

Speaking on Star Sports, Pujara said maintaining disciplined bowling lines especially targetting the middle-off stump and an ocassional short-pitched delivery could become key to diminishing the dominance of Head.

"Line is very important. Keep middle-off stumps line. Even if you are bowling over the stumps or around the wicket, don't let the middle stump play as off stump. The line should always be middle-off. In that line, he [Travis Head] looks very uncomfortable," Pujara said on Star Sports.

"He is already uncomfortable against the short ball. He does play his shots, but if you have fielders for short balls, then use it as variation. You don't need to bowl every ball short; most of the deliveries should target the stumps with an occasional short ball.

If they follow this strategy against him, the chances of success are high."

Meanwhile, former India batting coach Bangar also echoed Pujara's views, but added that bowlers should also try switching to around or over the wicket with good field positions to dismiss Head.

"At the start of the innings, go around the wicket and bowl in the corridor. If it proves successful in the first 10-15 balls, stick to that plan. Plan A is to come around the wicket and make him play at off stump. If there's no success, shift to over the wicket with more fielders on the on-side and a deep third man," Bangar said on Star Sports.

"By sticking to the middle-stump line, you force him to do something different. Against the short ball, his bat always comes into play, making deep third man, deep fine leg, and deep square leg potential catching positions. This approach dries up his scoring opportunities and creates pressure. India needs to persist with this plan and have patience to neutralize the Travis Head threat," he added.

Indian pacer Akash Deep also revealed the bowlers will target Head with short-pitch bowling ahead of the Boxing Day Test in MCG.

"As fast bowlers, we will stick to the same deliveries and maintain discipline in our bowling. We will bowl from both over and around the wicket, assess the pitch and conditions, and plan accordingly," Akash Deep said at the press conference on Sunday (December 22).

"I think Travis Head, in particular, struggles against short balls. We won't let him settle at the crease. We'll target specific areas and hope to force him into mistakes, which will create chances for us."