As India takes on Australia in the third Test at Brisbane, a lot of eyes will be on Aussie batter Travis Head, whose counter-attacking ways have emerged as a headache for the visitors in recent times, often turning a winnable match into a humiliating defeat for India single-handedly. Heading into the third Test, the series is level at 1-1. After a loss to India by 295 runs at Perth’s Optus Stadium, the hosts bounced back magnificently with a 10-wicket win in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide, where the star-studded Indian line-up failed and the dominance of pink-ball maestros Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins was evident throughout the match.
A striking highlight of the pink-ball Test was a counter-attack by Head, who scored a magnificent 140 in 141 balls, with 17 fours and four sixes to give a lead of 157 runs to the Aussies. India was bundled out for 175 runs and could only set 19 runs to win for the Aussies.
Head has a fine record against India in Tests, scoring 955 runs in 12 Tests and 21 innings at an average of 47.75, with two centuries and four fifties. His best score is 163. Across all formats against India, Head has made 1,555 runs in 29 matches and 38 innings at an average of 44.42, with three centuries and six fifties and the best score of 163.
In his last ten innings against India across all formats, including the latest ton, Travis has made 728 runs across all formats in eight matches, averaging 72.80, with three centuries and two fifties to his name and best score of 163* during WTC finals. This also includes a knock of 137 in the 50-over WC finals.
But India do have a chance to stop the Travis juggernaut during the third Test. In his previous three innings here, one against South Africa and two against West Indies, the left-handed batter was dismissed for golden ducks. All three instances involved dismissals by pacers, Kagiso Rabada and Shamar Joseph, with two dismissals being caught behind by wicketkeepers.
During the third Test, India should try setting an appropriate field for Head and hope that the ball beats the edge of Travis’s bat and lands in the hands of Rishabh Pant. They would no doubt be hoping that the law of averages catches up with Head and he gets out for a low score.
Overall, Head has a fine record at Brisbane, scoring 352 runs in seven innings at an average of 50.28, with a century and two fifties in seven innings and best score of 152 against England in 2021 Ashes, an innings which proved to be re-birth for Head in Tests and international cricket in general after few underwhelming years.
Would the law of averages catch up and make Travis fall for a low score? Only time will tell.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal.
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