Former Indian National Cricket Team head coach Ravi Shastri has said that Australia National Cricket Team’s explosive batsman Travis Head has been the biggest headache for the Rohit Sharma-led team in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 ongoing.
Ravi Shastri hilariously gave the Australian batsman a new nickname after his destructive performances against India and called him Travis Head’ache’.
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Travis Head shines at BGT 2024-25
Travis Head, 30, who was the main architect behind Australia defeating India in the final of the ICC World Test Championship and the ICC Cricket World Cup, has once again worried the Men in Blue.
He started the series with a score of 11, but has since seemed unstoppable. He scored 89 runs in the second innings of the Perth Test and then followed it up with an impressive knock of 140 runs in the Adelaide Test.
Then in the Gabba Test, Travis Head scored 152 runs in the first innings and demolished the Indian bowling attack. Currently, he is the leading run-getter in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 with 405 runs in his bag at an average of 81.80.
I think he is very intelligent – Ravi Shastri
Speaking on ICC Review, Ravi Shastri spoke about Head’s performances and stated:
“Because his new last name is Travis Head’ache’. They look for balms in India. For foot problems, ankle problems (and) even a headache look for a balm. It’s ideal for that.”
Head has struggled mightily against short balls over the years, but has recently made big improvements in the way he approaches these types of deliveries. Shastri noticed this and praised him for greatly improving his short ball style of play. He said:
“I think he is very intelligent. From what I saw of him three years ago, he has improved tremendously. Especially because of his way of playing the short ball. He prepared to leave it. “He has learned to leave it well at times.”
“It’s not always a big shot with a short pitch angled in his armpits or something like that. He is prepared to endure or go for the big shots. And if it is in the middle, in the middle and outside, then it also hits it in front of the square.
“It captures the length very well. That is one of its great strengths. And he has a shiny sword for offsides. So he is a difficult man to contain. And he is in the best shape of his life.”
We all knew he was dangerous, but he played that first shot against Jasprit Bumrah…. – Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri said the way Travis Head played against Jasprit Bumrah shows that he is in the best shape of his life. So far, Head has bowled 83 runs off 91 balls against one of the greatest pacers of all time, Jasprit Bumrah, who has been a nightmare for other Australian batsmen. He said:
“We all knew he was dangerous, but he played that first shot against Jasprit Bumrah, that cover shot, off the front foot. In many ways, it was a little bit on the upswing, outside of a good delivery, a decent delivery. He told me that this is a player in excellent shape.
“He continued to demonstrate exactly that. And the thing about him is that no, his mentality is very clear. There is no cloudy mentality. The situation is very clear. This is my strength.
“I’m going to play that way. Yes, I will observe the state of the game. I could shift from fourth to third. But I will always be in third and fourth gear once I get my eye on it.”
