Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Travis Head (R) and Abhishek Sharma during the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty-20 cricket match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

The destructive Travis Head has called his Sunrisers Hyderabad opening partner Abhishek Sharma an exciting talent for Indian cricket after the duo combined to pummel the Lucknow Super Giants bowling attack in a record IPL chase here.

Head (89 not out off 30) and Sharma (75 not out off 28), who have formed one of the most explosive pairings in the IPL this season, made a mockery of the 166-run target by overhauling it in just 9.4 overs. It was the highest ever 10 over score in history of men’s T20 cricket.

Both the southpaws hit fours and sixes for fun in what was a sensational display of power-hitting.

“The partnership with Abhi has been fantastic, he’s such an exciting talent for Indian cricket. We complement each other so well and he’s very very enjoyable to be around, he’s so excited and thinks about the game and yeah he’s got a lot of energy so it’s a great partnership to be involved in,” said Head in the post-match press conference on Wednesday.

Head is in top form ahead of the T20 World Cup in the Americas next month, having aggregated 533 runs in 11 innings at an astonishing strike rate of 201.89. Sharma too has been striking at over 200.

“Whenever you’re playing you want to be be as consistent as you can, you want to be getting runs. It’s nice to be among the runs been nice to be playing well. That’s not going to guarantee anything in the West Indies but it gives me the best chance to be in a very good mindset,” said Head.

“Working hard on training and I think we face a fair bit of spin in the Caribbean and wickets might become tougher as the tournament goes. So very pleased with how I played spin tonight, things that I’m working on in training are somewhat working in the moment,” he added.

Sharma had also earned high praise from West Indies legend Brian Lara, who is a former coach of SRH.

“Again he is someone who I met while I was batting coach of SRH. I spent two years there. I am allowed to a bit biased when I see a left-hander, I just love a left-hander.”

“Myself and Abhishek have developed a very good relationship, these youngsters are very humble. they want to learn,” Lara had said.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma went hammer and tongs at the hapless Sunrisers attack.
| Photo Credit: M. Vedhan

There was no rain on match day. But to the delight of a capacity crowd at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, it was a deluge of fours and sixes as the left-handed opening pair of Abhishek Sharma (75 n.o., 28b, 8×4, 6×6) and Travis Head (89 n.o., 30b, 8×4, 8×6) made a mockery of the victory target of 166, in a chase lasting just 47 minutes, against Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday.

Clearly, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s focus was not just on scripting a quick victory but also keep an eye on the Net Run Rate to steer clear of the jam in the points table. It did it in style with a resounding 10-wicket win in just 9.4 overs thanks to some breathtaking stroke-play which left every bowler clueless.

It was arguably one of the most savage onslaughts by an opening pair at this venue as Abhishek (Impact Player for pacer T. Natarajan) and Head batted as if they were rehearsing some strokes in the ‘nets.’ There was nothing to rave about for any bowler, as all of them were hapless and mute spectators to a brutal batting display.

Earlier, Super Giants’ top-order failed before a fighting 99-run unbroken partnership off 52 balls for the fifth wicket between the classy Nicholas Pooran and the 24-year-old Ayush Badoni saw the team post what looked a competitive score at the innings break.

Pooran and Badoni came up with wonderful stroke selection under pressure, especially in the last five overs when they scored 63 runs.

For the home team, both the left-arm pacer and death overs specialist Natarajan, and skipper Pat Cummins were expensive

The seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar was easily the pick of the bowlers, conceding just 12 runs from his quota of four overs while taking the crucial wickets of Quinton de Kock (2) and Marcus Stoinis (3) thanks to some brilliant fielding by Nitish Kumar Reddy and Sanvir Singh respectively. It was not a kind of PowerPlay Lucknow would have hoped for after electing to bat — scoring just 27 for two.

SCOREBOARD

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS

K.L. Rahul c Natarajan b Cummins 29 (33b, 1×4, 1×6), Quinton de Kock c Nitish b Bhuvneshwar 2 (5b), Marcus Stoinis c Sanvir b Bhuvneshwar 3 (5b), Krunal Pandya run out 24 (21b, 2×6) Nicholas Pooran (not out) 48 (26b, 6×4, 1×6), Ayush Badoni (not out) 55 (30b, 9×4); Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (for four wkts. in 20 overs): 165.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-13 (de Kock, 2.1 overs), 2-21 (Stoinis, 4.2), 3-57 (Rahul, 9.6), 4-66 (Krunal, 11.2).

SUNRISERS BOWLING

Bhuvneshwar 4-0-12-2, Cummins 4-0-47-1, Shahbaz 2-0-9-0, Viyaskanth 4-0-27-0, Unadkat 2-0-19-0, Natarajan 4-0-50-0.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD

Abhishek Sharma (Impact Player in place of Natarajan) (not out) 75 (28b, 8×4, 6×6), Travis Head (not out) 89 (30b, 8×4, 8×6); Extras (lb-1, w-2): 3; Total (for no loss in 9.4 overs): 167.

SUPER GIANTS BOWLING

Gowtham 2-0-29-0, Yash Thakur 2.4-0-47-0, Bishnoi 2-0-34-0, Naveen 2-0-37-0, Badoni 1-0-19-0.

Toss: LSG. PoM: Head

SRH won by 10 wickets with 62 balls to spare.

It is possible that even as you read this, the first score of 300-plus in an IPL innings might have been made already. Nepal’s 314 for three against Mongolia is the record in a T20International, but franchise cricket is of a higher standard.

Already the 100-mark in the first PowerPlay has been crossed. Six-hitting, the basis of all tall scores, might still be exciting but only just. Repetition is beginning to suck the thrill out of it. As the poet W.H. Auden said, the eye is bored by repetition. In fact, repetition doesn’t create memories.

The IPL is being played for the 17th time, which means there are enough batters who first took to the game when they were in the first grade or so, and have grown with it.

Inevitable

We no longer gasp at 20-plus runs in an over, 24 sixes in an innings or 42 in a match. When Will Jacks takes just 10 deliveries to move from 50 to 100, it is merely interesting, not astounding. Someone, we tell ourselves, was bound to do it sooner or later. The more often such records are broken, the more inevitable it looks; unexpectedness, the essence of competition, is being replaced by inevitability. You can have too much of a good thing.

There aren’t too many angles left unexplored by either batter or bowler. Fielders on the boundary don’t worry the hitter who aims to strike into the crowd. Even the great Jasprit Bumrah has been taken for 18 in a single over. What might cause a sharp intake of breath might actually be a forward defence or a batter letting a ball go through to the wicket keeper unharmed. That might suggest a cosmic disturbance.

Hundreds by Will Jacks (41 balls) and Travis Head (in 39) merely seem to be preparation for a 25-ball century. Traditional statistics have become meaningless. When Delhi Capitals’ Jake Fraser-McGurk made a 27-ball 84 against Mumbai Indians, the significant statistic was not the strike rate of 311, but the fact that of the 104 deliveries he faced, he attempted boundaries off 77. So here’s a new metric: aggressive shot percentage.

Is the end of T20 near?

But does all this lead up to one conclusion: that the end of T20 is approaching faster than predicted? Theoretically, a team could hit each of the 120 deliveries it receives for six, and that would be that.

At the start of the previous century, physicists spoke about the end of physics, as if there was nothing remaining to be discovered. That was just before the quantum revolution and the opening of new pathways. The political philosophers who emphasised the end of history are discovering that they spoke too soon.

Perhaps the approaching death of the T20 is an exaggeration. The future of the format is in the hands of the bowlers. It is likely that batting will peak, reaching a stage beyond which it cannot progress (at least for a while) as the bowlers reassert themselves.

There is too the question of human limit, a question that pops up every Olympic year. If the rule-makers are enlightened, there will be an attempt to create a level playing field even if it means giving the bowler the greater advantage.

Perhaps a batter might be declared leg before even if the ball pitches outside the line of the leg stump. Perhaps the benefit of the doubt will always go in favour of the bowler. Perhaps the two best bowlers might be allowed to bowl six overs each in an innings. All this just for the shortest format of the game, of course. Once it is accepted in theory that bowlers need help, there are always possibilities.

A recent cartoon doing the rounds on social media summed up the bowlers’ plight well. It shows a bunch of bowlers led by Mitchell Starc carrying banners saying things like ‘Stop the Batriarchy’, ‘Bowlers Matter’ and ‘Abolish the Impact Substitute’. Like the best jokes, these reveal important truths.

Bowlers are not supporting acts. As the great Erapalli Prasanna said recently, “You can say all you want about batting, but a match does not begin till someone bowls.”

IPL cricket may be ‘progressing’ too quickly for its own good.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Travis Head in action during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Delhi Capitals in New Delhi on April 20, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Riding on explosive starts, Sunrisers Hyderabad may have won four games on the bounce this IPL season, but their swashbuckling opener Travis Head says “we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves.” Sunrisers Hyderabad crushed Delhi Capitals by 67 runs in their most recent match in New Delhi on April 20, following sensational knocks from their in-form openers Travis Head (89) and Abhishek Sharma (46).

SRH have made a habit of posting big totals this season, going past 260 for the third time on Saturday.

“It is very enjoyable. It is nice to be here and play well, and it is hard not to smile and enjoy yourself with the batting order that we have got, and the order is working well through the first seven, so it is very enjoyable,” Head told JioCinema.

Batting first, Hyderabad scored their fourth 200+ innings this edition by scoring 266 runs, while Delhi were bowled out for 199 runs at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. This was SRH’s fifth win of the season.

Head also spoke on SRH’s momentum and positive energy around the team.

“We will take it easy for a minute. I think it was Murali’s (Muttiah Muralitharan) birthday a couple of days ago, so we have a party for him tomorrow night, so that will be enjoyable.

“I think it’s a nice group, we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves. Obviously, we are excited. We have got four wins on the bounce now, we are playing well, and the energy is always better when you are winning.

“The environment is really good. That’s what Dan (Daniel Vettori) and Pat Cummins are going to bring. If there is a loss here or there, a couple of poor performances, that’s okay. We are showing how good we can be.

“As long as we can keep instilling that confidence around how well we are playing, I guess the ceiling is as high as it wants to be,” Head said.

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan praised Jake Fraser-McGurk (65 runs) and T Natarajan (4/19).

Jake Fraser-McGurk raised hopes of an improbable win for DC with his blazing innings.

“Today, the line was way outside the off-stump. He has shown that he can open up that area as well and put bowlers under pressure, especially when he is able to generate power on his shots on the back foot to get the ball over the ropes.

“I mean, everyone’s noticing his talent and keeping an eye on him, and how he is going to evolve with experience,” Zaheer said.

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s Travis Head plays a shot during his century knock in the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 15.
| Photo Credit: K. Bhagya Prakash

Sunrisers Hyderabad have taken T20 batting to the next level with sustained range-hitting in the Indian Premier League, and Travis Head said maximising Power Play segment was central to their aggressive approach.

Head, whose 39-ball 100 led SRH to a record-setting 287/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 15, underscored that approach with a fifty inside the Power Play.

It was also the second time Head completed a half-century within the first six overs.

“We’ve definitely got a lot of power through our top and middle-order and I think we’ve sort of got to tailor the way we want to play around that power that we’ve got, especially in power play,” said Head in the post-match press conference.

The Australian opener has a perfect ally at the top in an equally belligerent Abhishek Sharma, who blunts slower bowlers upfront while Head goes about destroying the pacers.

“I guess Abhi and I at the top of the order try to maximise that (Power Play) as much as we can. It may be fours, it may be sixes.

“But yeah, we want to try to attack the power play with the two of us and then obviously we’ve got a lot of power through that middle-order,” Head added.

It wasn’t a mere tall claim as a quick check will reveal SRH’s power play scores in six matches this season as 65/1, 81/1, 58/1, 78/1, 40/3 and 76/0, and none of the other nine teams have come close to those numbers.

But it was not blind hitting. Head revealed his approach in the initial six overs.

“Depending on the field positions, I try to sum up what the bowlers are trying to do. In the power play, with just two fielders out, I try to think about hitting the ball 360, around the whole ground, as you only have to go over the infield or through the infielders for boundaries.

“I’d worked on a few things over the last couple of days. I did not execute the way I would have liked (in the last two matches). But today, especially in the power play, I was able to strike the ball the way I wanted,” said the left-hander.

The 30-year-old also lauded Hyderabad bowlers, especially skipper and premier pacer Pat Cummins, for holding their nerves when RCB batters were scoring briskly.

“We knew that we probably needed three or four really good overs in the game to win it. So, it’s amazing to sit here and think that when we make 280, but it’s going to be one of the nights for the bowlers to hold on and I thought Pat bowled exceptionally well.

“We were able to get wickets throughout the middle of the overs which set the game up. DK (Dinesh Karthik) played an unbelievable innings. But we did really well to get them back at 125 or 130 for five,” he added.

Australia’s Mitchell Marsh addresses the media during a press conference on the eve of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 match against Netherlands in New Delhi, on October 24, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Australia will not brush aside the late collapse against Pakistan and will look to address their batting frailties in the back end when they face the Netherlands in their World Cup match, said in-form all-rounder Mitchell Marsh on October 24.

David Warner (163) and Marsh (121) smashed superlative hundreds, forging a 259-run stand for the opening wicket but a late collapse saw them eventually finish at 367 for 9 against Pakistan.

“I think individually everyone would have addressed that. To be honest I thought Pakistan bowled really well and gave us a bit of a blueprint on how to go about it certainly towards the back end of the innings,” Marsh said during the pre-match press conference.

“They’re a very good outfit and we were able to get on top of them in the first half of the innings, but they came back strongly, and you expect that from teams like Pakistan.

“So, we’ll address it, and hopefully moving forward, we can have a great last 10 overs and apply some pressure to other teams,” he said ahead of Australia’s match against the Dutch here on Wednesday.

Batting at number 3

Travis Head, who had injured his left hand during a World Cup warm-up match in South Africa, is firming up for a return after hitting the nets here ahead of the Netherlands clash.

Asked if Head will play tomorrow, Marsh said: “Yeah, I think that decision will be made this afternoon/tonight. He looked good, a bit of range hitting last night. He says the hand feels good. So, I’m sure if he’s fit, he’ll be available for selection in the team.

“I’m not sure who he’ll replace at this stage, but I presume that if he’s fit and he gets through today that he’ll play, but that decision will be made tonight.” Marsh also said he has no issues slipping back to No. 3 in case Head regains his opening slot.

“I’m very happy to go back down to three. I’ve obviously batted there a lot over the last couple of years, so I feel really comfortable at three. And if and when Heady comes back in, I think that’s the best position for me to play for this team,” he said.

It has been a World Cup of upsets with Afghanistan stunning defending champions England and Pakistan, while the Netherlands shocking South Africa the other day.

“Yeah, teams have got better. I think that’s great for world cricket, certainly in tournaments like this that can sometimes be pretty long. And you see a lot of games that are not exactly close or competitive,” he said.

“But we’ve said it multiple times now in this tournament this year, there’s absolutely no easy games. And you go into every game having done all the appropriate homework and hopefully you can come out with a win.

“So, tomorrow is no different for us. We respect the Netherlands; they’re playing some good cricket and that will be a tough challenge.” Talking about his evolution as a cricketer, Marsh said: “I’ve still worked hard for a long period of time to hopefully keep improving. And there’s no doubt that I’ve had probably more opportunities at the top of the order and more time to bat in the white ball format.

“Not a whole lot’s changed, I’ve just probably not given up on the fact that I was striving for something and kept working hard through periods of time that were tougher than others.

“In the last couple of years, I feel I’ve been as consistent as I could have been, which was something I was always striving for. I guess all the best players in the world that you look up to, and certainly in our team, they’re so consistent. And that’s what I was.” It has been a long season for Australia but Marsh said the experience of the players have helped them to be in great frame of mind despite the initial reversals.

“India probably play the most cricket out of anyone. And I guess from our point of view and from my point of view, it’s leaning on experience of the past,” he said.

“We’ve got a team full of a lot of experience at the moment, guys who’ve played 12 months of the year for the last probably six or seven years. So, we’re not in unfamiliar territory, whilst we had a slow start and we were put under pressure at times, the vibe in the team is great.

“We’ve played really good cricket in the last two games and hopefully that’s the case tomorrow.”

Australia’s Travis Head during the 1st Betway ODI between South Africa and Australia at Mangaung Oval on September 07, 2023 in Bloemfontein, South Africa.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Australia’s Travis Head returned to nets on Sunday having recovered from a fracture on his left-hand, and the middle-order batter is expected to travel to India on Thursday to join his country’s World Cup squad.

Head had his protective splint removed from his hand on Friday. The South Australian had suffered a fracture on his hand after getting hit by South African pacer Gerald Coetzee at Centurion ahead of the World Cup.

Although he might miss Australia’s fixture against Pakistan on Friday in Bengaluru, Head could feature against the Netherlands on October 25 in Delhi, provided he passes the fitness test.

“It’s coming along well, and probably better than we hoped. When we decided not to go with surgery, which would have meant a 10-week recovery, we were told it would be minimum six weeks with the splint before we could look at playing again,” Head was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au.

“Going by that plan, the Netherlands game will be just under six weeks from impact, which is a pretty aggressive date, so everything would have to go perfectly from here to make that deadline,” he added.

Considering the nature of the injury, Head said he was still ascertaining his ability to field.

“I’m not sure what it will mean for fielding. We haven’t explored that yet,” said Head.

“There’s still a few hurdles we need to clear, and everything needs to fall into place from my end and from the team’s point of view over there before the final decision is made,” he added.

Australia are yet to taste a win in the World Cup and they are placed ninth on the 10-team table after having lost both their matches.