The left-handed batter of the Australian side, Travis Head, didn’t enjoy a great time with the bat during the fourth Test of the five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), but he certainly changed the route of the contest with the prize wicket of Rishabh Pant in the second innings at a very crucial stage.
Travis Head has been the biggest headache for Indian cricket for the last 15 months, across formats, having collected so many memorable knocks to carry them over the line, whether in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 or the ODI World Cup final 2023. Even in this series, the left-handed batter has already destroyed the touring side’s bowling two consecutive times.
The Adelaide-born drilled a 141-run knock in 140 balls during the second day-night pink-ball Test before extending the purple patch in the third fixture at the Gabba in Brisbane with a 152-run knock in 160 deliveries. He is currently the leading run-getter of the BGT 2024-25 with the help of 410 runs in seven innings at an average of 58.57 and a strike rate of 92.55 with the help of one half-century and two centuries.
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Travis Head ends the year with 608 Test runs in 15 innings at an average of 40.53 and a strike rate of 85.39 with the help of three centuries and one fifty at the best score of 152. But the way he helped Australia get a lead by 2-1 in the ongoing BGT before the fifth Test was nothing short of unbelievable.
Navjot Singh Sidhu calls for brutal punishment on Travis Head
The part-time off-spinner kept on bowling with a defensive field placement, with the players kept on the boundary line. Rishabh Pant, having batted in a sensible approach in a thrilling partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal to see off the second innings of the game, looked to pull the half-tracker from Head for a boundary but mistimed it into the hands of Mitchell Marsh.
That triggered a collapse as India lost their next seven wickets in just over an hour to end the game on the losing side. The entire scenario saw Travis Head creating a hole with his left hand and inserting the right index finger in it. The celebration raised a few eyebrows then.
The former Indian opening batter, Navjot Singh Sidhu, left fuming with it and addressed it as ‘obnoxious’ and the ‘worst possible example.’ He also claimed that it had been an insult to 1.5 billion Indians and demanded a string punishment of the batter before the fifth Sydney Test.
“Travis Head’s obnoxious behavior during the Melbourne Test doesn’t auger well for the gentleman’s game and sets the worst possible example when there are kids, women, young & old watching the game. This caustic conduct did not insult an individual but a nation of 1.5 billion Indians, and a stringent punishment that would serve as a deterrent for future generations needs to be slapped on him so that no one dares follow suit!!!” Sidhu wrote on his ‘X’ handle (formerly known as Twitter).
Also Read: Travis Head Insulted Indian Players With ‘In Hole Celebration’ In 4th Test? Pat Cummins Clarifies
The Australian captain, Pat Cummins, however, has clarified the celebration of Travis Head and explained the story behind it.
“I can explain that. His finger is so hot that he is going to put it in a cup of ice. Yes, that’s what it is. That’s normally the running joke. Was it at the Gabba or somewhere where he got a wicket as well and just got straight to the fridge, grabbed a bucket of ice, put his finger in, and just walked in front of Lyno (Nathan Lyon)? Just like that, I think it’s very funny. So that’s what it would have been, nothing else.” Cummins expressed during the post-match press conference.