Hard-hitting Australian opener Travis Head has resumed batting for the first time since sustaining a left-hand injury last month, and the left-handed opener is hopeful of joining the Australian team later this week in India. The Aussie opener’s recovery from injury coming along better than everyone hoped with sights set on a World Cup return.
The five-time champions were hammered by India and South Africa in the marquee event at the first two games largely due to their poor start with the bat at the top of the order with David Warner and Mitchell Marsh failing to make an impact opening the bat for the team in ongoing ODI World Cup 2023.
Speaking on Cricket.com.au, Travis Head revealed that he is coming off well to return to the Australian team very soon for the ODI World Cup and said that he could be fit for the game against the Netherlands. The left-handed opener is excited to join his teammates in India to kick-start his campaign for the five-time champions.
“It’s coming along well, and probably better than we hoped, When we decided not to go with surgery, which would have meant a 10-week recovery, we were told it would be a minimum of six weeks with the splint before we could look at playing again.
“Going by that plan, the Netherlands game will be just under six weeks from impact which is a pretty aggressive date so everything would have to go perfectly from here to make that deadline. But we’ll just see how it progresses over the next few days and I’m excited by the prospect of joining the boys over there later in the week”.
“I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to bat when the splint came off but, apart from a fair bit of stiffness given I hadn’t been able to use it for the past four weeks, I was able to hit balls and play a fair range of shots,” Travis Head said.
The left-handed opener is scheduled to leave Adelaide on Thursday and arrive in India the following day, but those travel plans are contingent on his ability to continue to heal quickly and show that he can make a big contribution to the team’s remaining games.
Australia’s ODI World Cup campaign has gotten off to the worst possible start, with Australian skipper Pat Cummins admitting that the team was deeply hurt by the first two losses in the tournament and the return of their primary opener will help the Australian side to find their form in the tournament.