Travis Head of Australia raises his bat after scoring a half century during day two of the Third Test match in the series between Australia and India (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
He has been the biggest thorn in India’s flesh over the last 18 months. A hundred in the World Test Championship Final followed by another match-changing ton in the final of the World Cup in 2023. A century at a critical juncture in the Pink Ball Test in Adelaide and another triple-digit score in the ongoing Gabba Test in Brisbane. How does India solve a problem like Travis Head?
RG analyses.
A Great Test Record Against India
Head has an aggregate of 1107 runs in just 13 Tests against India at an average of 52.71 with three hundreds and four fifties. Only Joe Root has scored more runs in the format against India since the 6th of December, 2018 – which was Head’s maiden encounter against them.
Along with the volume of the runs and the consistency, what stands out for Head is the timing of his performances against India. He has raised his game in the big matches and also scored big when the chips have been down for Australia, showcasing great mental strength and temperament.
While he had played a few good knocks against the Indians starting from the gritty 72 back in his first encounter against them in Adelaide in 2018, Head really expressed himself in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) at The Oval in June last year.
Head walked out to bat with Australia in a spot of bother at 76/3 and counter-attacked unleashing his blistering stroke-play on the Indian attack. He dominated the match-changing 285-run stand with Steven Smith, hammering 163 off just 174 deliveries – an innings characterised by 25 fours and one six! Head targeted the best Indian bowler in the XI – Mohammed Shami – and smashed him for 58 off just 52 deliveries at a rate of 111.5 – the rest is history!
Head was the lone warrior in Australia’s second innings in the loss at Perth, where he scored 89 off 101 deliveries. He then came out to bat at 103/3 in the first innings in Adelaide and thwarted any plans of an Indian fightback, again counter-attacking in quintessential Head style and piling on a magnificent 140 off just 141 deliveries. The only possible threat to the left-hander could have been posed by R Ashwin who had a good match-up against him. Head nullified this early into the off-spinner’s spell taking him for 40 runs in 57 deliveries which included three sixes. It forced Ashwin to bowl flatter to the southpaw who then milked him for the singles.
India had had enough of Head and tested him with the short-pitched stuff at The Gabba.
But the swashbuckling left-hander had a counter to that too. He played the upper-cut and the pull keeping the Indian pacers at bay. India bowled seven short-pitched deliveries to Head in Brisbane but he looked at ease with a Control Percentage of 100%, also getting two boundaries. His most productive shot was the square cut which fetches him 40 runs off just 23 deliveries – which highlighted the poor line bowled by some of the Indian pacers sans Jasprit Bumrah.
Head continued his assault on the Indian bowlers and once again rescued Australia from a precarious 75 for 3 to a potentially match-winning total of 445. The main characteristic of his majestic 152 was again the rate at which he scored his runs – off just 160 deliveries – striking at 95! He hit 18 boundaries but also placed the ball in the gaps and rotated the strike brilliantly – this point is well illustrated by the mere 4.4% of balls he left alone!
Three big hundreds, an eighty and a ninety in his last seven innings in Tests against India – Head has taken a liking to their attack and is giving nightmares to Rohit Sharma and company.
Hundred in World Cup Final
Head’s exploits against India do not stop in Test cricket. He has an aggregate of 345 runs in nine ODIs against them at an average of 43.1 and strike rate of 101.76. Head’s highest impact knock against India came on the biggest stage of them all – in the flagship 50-over tournament – the 2023 World Cup.
He hammered a stunning 137 off just 120 deliveries in the final against the hosts in front of more than 1 lakh passionate and vociferous fans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Once again, the left-hander came out to bat with his team in early trouble at 47/3 in the run-chase and then single-handedly took them to victory with a counter-assault for the ages!
A high impact performance in the WTC Final, World Cup Final and now the coveted Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Travis has already made head rolls in India and how!
Nikhil Narain
