Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting heaped praise on Travis Head for his match-winning knock against the home-favourite at the Narendra Modi Stadium to stun the cricket world with a counterattacking century to secure the deal for his team.
Travis Head’s outstanding century played a major part in Australia’s win against India. He batted with aggression and skill throughout his 137-run innings off 120 balls, especially while facing India’s spinners in the middle overs. With 15 fours and 4 sixes in the game, he demonstrated his ability to quicken his pace after hitting his century. He also took to the crucial catch of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, which turned the fortunes for Australia.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Ricky Ponting lauded Travis Head as one of the world’s top all-around players right now and added that although Head might be unconventional at times, he can score a lot of runs and handle the new ball well.
“Travis is emerging as one of the three or four best all-format players in the world. His Test record is outstanding. He is unorthodox at times [in one-day cricket] and you wonder how he will get past the new ball, but he does and scores big runs,” Travis Head said.
The Left-handed opener was supported by the selectors and the medical team to recuperate from a fractured hand he sustained during the ODI series against South Africa. After missing the first five group matches, he made a spectacular comeback against New Zealand, hitting 109 off 94 balls announcing his comeback in the game.
Travis Head made a major and telling contribution to Australia’s ODI World Cup 2023 campaign. In the semi-final, the left-handed opener scored an aggressive 62 runs and claimed two wickets for 21 runs in five overs, which included the crucial removal of Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen. His contributions to the game extended beyond his batting duties, with his all-around ability.
In the world’s largest cricket stadium, Australia was the obvious underdog against an all-conquering India team that had won ten straight games to advance to the final. If their brand of fearless cricket wasn’t intimidating enough, Australia held their nerve against the mighty Indian team to come over the top silencing the fully-packed Narendra Modi stadium.
