Former India head coach Ravi Shastri analyzes Travis Head’s success against India and feels the Australian attacking batsman has become a leader under Rohit Sharma A “headache” for the team.
Head played a vital role in the defeat against India in the 2023 ICC World Test Championship final and the ODI World Cup final later that year, and he continues to play against India in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Although Head was dropped in the first game of the series after batting just 11, he went on to score 89, 140 and 152 in the next three games.
“Because his new last name is ‘Travis Headache.’ They’re looking for balms in India. For foot problems, ankle problems (even) headaches, they’re looking for balms. He’s ideal for that,” Shah said. Sterry told ICC Review.
Shastri broke the “head” phenomenon and believed that the improvement of batsmen’s short ball skills was an important reason for his success.
“I think he’s very smart. From what I watched him three years ago, he’s improved a lot. Especially the way he plays the short ball. He’s prepared to leave it. He’s learned to leave it well at times,” Shah said. Sterry pointed out.
The former India coach said Hyder’s ability to quickly judge the lane and length of a pass and select shots accordingly helped him a lot.
“It’s not a big ball that’s always going to hit him at an angle on a short delivery that hits him in the armpit or whatever. He’s prepared to either ride it or go for the big ball. If it’s middle, middle and wide. out, then he’ll hit the ball in front.
“He has good length. That’s one of his big strengths. And he has an edge offside. So he’s a difficult guy to control. And he’s in the shape of his life,” he added.
In the ongoing Test series, Head came up against India’s top run-scorer Jasprit Bumrah, who scored 83 runs off just 91 balls but was dismissed twice. On the other hand, the remaining Australian batsmen did not perform well against Bumrah, who has 21 wickets in the series at an average of 10.9.
For Shastri, a particular delivery by Hyde to Bumrah early in his innings convinced him that Hyde had a good touch on the ball. The famous commentator also mentioned that a batsman’s mental clarity helps his batting.
“We all know he’s dangerous, but his first shot in front of Jasprit Bumrah was a front-foot cover. In many ways, it was a good performance. Good pitching, good pitching.
“He continues to prove it. His problem is that there is no, he has a very clear mentality. There is no clouded mentality. He is very clear about the situation. That is my advantage. I will play that way. Yes, I Watching the game, I might switch from fourth to third, but once I start paying attention, I’m always in third and fourth.