Former Australian head Coach Justin Langer lavished praise on Australian star batter Travis Head for his counter-attacking century against India on the opening day of the World Test Championship final. The 29-year-old was at his absolute best to score his first overseas century in the Ultimate test.
The Australian southpaw walked on to bat in a tricky situation, as the Aussies were 76-3 on the surface which helped a bit for the Indian pacer in the initial stage of the innings, as Travis Head and Steve Smith batted brilliantly in the middle overs to put their team in the driver seat 327-3 at the end of the day 1.
Speaking on Channel 7, Justin Langer hailed Travis Head for putting the pressure back on the Indian bowlers by playing aggressively, coming on to bat in the number-five position just like Rishabh Pant and Adam Gilchrist, and reckons that his body language was brilliant throughout the match as he took on the bowlers at ease throughout the day.
“He’s playing with great freedom, putting pressure back on the Indians. It’s like having Adam Gilchrist or Rishabh Pant in your team, he’s making it look like a T20 game, You can see from his body language that he was right into this match. When the sun started flowing, so too did those runs. He was brilliant,” Justin Langer said.
Former Australian Cricketer praised veteran Australian opener David Warner for playing the tough phase of the game, as he batted beautifully through the initial phase of the innings and said that he played very well on the front foot and the back foot, which are very good signs for Australia going forward.
“He played off the front foot and the back foot … that’s a sign David Warner’s in good form.”
With Usman Khawaja being dismissed for a duck, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne batted brilliantly in the tough phase of Day 1 to make things ease out for the Australian middle-order batters to take on the Indian bowlers in the second session and third sessions of the Day 1.
Virat Kohli Was An Amazing Captain – Justin Langer
Justin Langer lauded Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli for his aggression, passion, and batting for the Indian team over the years, as he has led the Indian team with the utmost passion in overseas test series being highly competitive for leading the team.
“There was nothing I didn’t like about Virat Kohli. His aggression, his passion, his batting. He was an amazing captain,” Justin Langer said on commentary.