IND vs AUS: Mamma Mia! Here he goes again at the Gabba.
Travis Head’s 152 at the Gabba on Day 2 to once again puncture Indian plans and overshadow Jasprit Bumrah fifer, fit right into his general Test outings at Brisbane. The joke here runs that if he’s allowed to get off the mark, Head punishes opponents plenty.
His sequence reads 84 (SL), 24 (Pak), 152 (Eng), DNB (Eng), 92 (SA), 0 (SA), 0 (WI), 0 (WI), and now 152 (Ind).
Head had started at Brisbane with 84 in 2019 against Sri Lanka, his highest score till then. He boasts of a 152 against England in 2021.
Head’s last 6 Test scoring figures at Gabba now read 152, 92, 0, 0, 0, 152. This includes a diamond pair, among three first-ball golden ducks as well as a nervous 92 besides the 152 he put the Poms through. He averages a chunky 66 at the venue, and overall 63 at Gabba. The duck tales panned out against West Indies and South Africa.
But things weren’t always this giddy after the 92. His trio of ducks had built him a bad little poor run before he turned it around against the Indians.
But the 152 studded with 18 carat boundaries, and his acceleration from 50 off 71 balls to 100 off 115 also witnessed a distinct hurrying up in his 90s, so he didn’t dawdle and get stuck chasing a 100 getting there in the next 44 balls. But getting back to back Test tons in the series, Head cured memories of his duckling scores over the 2022 and 2024 bane seasons at Gabba. It was his 5th 150 score.
On Sunday Head got dangerous when he got from 0 to 1. As in the first 30 minutes, he had wrested back control from India who had snared the top order to be on 75-3. In the middle session of the day, Head scored 83 runs off 83 balls, while Steve Smith had 40 off 81.
After the match, Head told Fox Cricket, “It is all about being positive, and I thought I had to spend some time in the middle, credit to the top three guys for having stuck out against the new ball, so I could play my shots. I felt positive, but it was fun to be aggressive.”
He added that he enjoyed playing for the team, but has had to historically negotiate early iffiness against spin. “I have played enough against India. I have a blueprint, a bit nervous to start against spin, I was happy with the way I started against him. today.”
He said, “The new ball will do something throughout the game, cannot see too far ahead of the game. The new ball is always crucial. The top-6 is setting it up nicely, hopeful of doing well against Sri Lanka and getting into WTC final.”
It was his fourth rescue of Aussies after Brisbane in 2021, Hobart 2022 and Adelaide 2023, Fox Cricket noted, and added, “Opposition captains seem short of answers once he decides to shift gears.”
CricViz had noted that since the 2021-22 Ashes, the southpaw has averaged 77 when facing pacers outside off stump, striking at 101. There were also a couple of ramp shots off the quicks over Rishabh Pant.
Allan Border who the field is named after, told Fox Cricket, “He just comes in and the game changes straight away.”
“He changes the momentum of the game,” Brad Haddin said on commentary. “He hits good balls to the part of the ground that’s unorthodox.”
Kerry O’Keefe on Fox had an interesting insight, “At the base of his success is Travis Head walks in and detached from consequence; he doesn’t fear failure.” David Warner in the post match wondered, “Where do you bowl to him?”
India’s previous tormentors over the years have all been left handers – Sanath Jayasuriya, Saeed Anwar, Matthew Hayden, but Head seems to be a recurring nightmare in all three formats.
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