Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Hot commodity: Samson, who delivered a masterpiece at the ICC T20 World Cup and won the Lead Actor honours, is primed to extend his purple patch in Chennai’s Yellow.
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Australia’s Travis Head celebrates his century on day 3 of the third Ashes Test against England in Adelaide on December 19, 2025.
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Australia captain Steve Smith with Travis Head after winning the first Ashes Test against England in Perth on November 22, 2025.
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Mohammed Siraj reacts to Australia’s Travis Head after dismissing him on day 2 of the second Test in Adelaide on December 7, 2024.
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A glorious century marred by the manner of departure, was the theme when Travis Head squared upto the media here at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday (December 7, 2024) night. The southpaw’s 140 set Australia on a pedestal in the second Test, but talk centred around Mohammed Siraj’s send-off to the batter after castling him.

“I was surprised at the reaction in terms of the situation of the game and the lead up, and there was no confrontation leading up to it, and I felt like it was probably a bit far at the time, and that’s why I am disappointed in the reaction that I gave back, but I’m also going to stand up for myself. We are pretty civil with each other as teams and that is why it was disappointing to see a couple of reactions after I was out,” Head said.

Elaborating about his special hundred, the batter said: “Yeah, I was very pleased with the way I started. Very pleased with the way I was able to play against Ashwin. I guess at the start with the field up, I picked my moments and manoeuvred the field. And then sort of sensed where the game was at and I thought it was a great opportunity to put some pressure on before that new ball and try to maximise.”

Australia’s Travis Head celebrates his century on day 2 of the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Adelaide on December 7, 2024.
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After a forgettable day for India at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday (December 7, 2024), bowling coach Morne Morkel turned up at the press conference for some fire-fighting. With a calm voice and a diplomat’s grace, the South African deftly handled the queries.

The first volley was about Mohammed Siraj’s needless send-off to centurion Travis Head and Morkel was ready: “We all know Siraj puts everything on the line, he is the kind of bowler, who will run in all day. There are some moments in a game. But I am sure off the field they will be the best of mates.”

Asked about India’s bowling in the second Test so far, Morkel offered his analysis: “Yesterday (Friday), the lines and lengths could have been better, there was some extra swing too. Thought they did well today (Saturday) morning before Travis Head played his innings. He put the bowlers under pressure but that’s the way he plays.”

And about Rishabh Pant’s approach at the batting crease, the bowling coach said: “Just like Head, this is the way Pant bats, that’s his approach. Always puts the bowlers under pressure. Seeing the scoreboard you won’t expect the kind of shot he played from the first ball but that is how he is.” Morkel also backed seamer Harshit Rana, who had a rough outing.

The faithful, who congregated at the Adelaide Oval, relished the local hero’s exploits. Travis Head, back in his city, and against a familiar rival, turned on his aggressive mode. The southpaw’s blistering hundred held Australia in good stead as the second Test swung the host’s way in Adelaide on Saturday (December 7, 2024).

If Head’s 137 derailed India in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup final at Ahmedabad, the latest 140 at his home ground, could help Australia spring back in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, in which Pat Cummins and his men trail at 0-1. At close on the second day, after Australia scored 337 in its first innings and gained a 157-run lead, India wobbled at 128 for five in the second innings and trails by 29 runs.

K.L. Rahul tried to pull one down the leg-side off Cummins and feathered the ball straight to Alex Carey. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill found the odd four but the former succumbed to Scott Boland’s nagging accuracy with Carey’s gloves again coming into play.

The same pacer-keeper combine got the better of Virat Kohli and when Mitchell Starc scattered Gill’s stumps, it was left to Rishabh Pant’s chutzpah to lend some cheer to the Indian fans. Pant often toppled over while scooping Boland over third-man and fine-leg while skipper Rohit Sharma after surviving a Starc questionnaire, lost his citadel to Cummins.

Earlier in an afternoon of bright skies and persistent breeze, Australia resumed at the overnight 86 for one. Opener Nathan McSweeney retreated in the day’s third over as Jasprit Bumrah bowled tighter lines and found his desserts. If McSweeney nibbled at one close to the off-stump, Steve Smith wafted at a ball down the leg-side and in both instances, Pant’s gloves were waiting.

Bumrah’s morning spell of 4-1-10-2 offered hope but the roar that greeted Head on his arrival, seemed to be a premonition of a dreary outing for the visitors. With Marnus Labuschagne being the eager beaver, and Head the marauder, Harshit Rana felt the scalding heat of the Aussie willows. The seamer lost his radar and the two batters cashed in.

R. Ashwin stepped in and Head, ever keen to mark his territory, hoisted a six. And Labuschagne motored towards his 50. The 65-run fourth-wicket partnership ended when Labuschagne slashed at Nitish Kumar and found a leaping Jaiswal. Australia 168 for four and perhaps nursing a good appetite ahead of the break.

After the intermission, Ashwin got one past Mitchell Marsh’s bat and the batter instantly walked. Meanwhile, Head punched, slashed, pulled and stepped out too, while Carey and Cummins played the supporting roles. After hoisting Ashwin for a six, Head’s repeat-act swivelled high but Mohammed Siraj could not hold on.

Having savoured the reprieve, Head charged towards his ton and the stands were agog with excitement. India pulled back through the new-ball and Siraj castled Head but the seamer’s obnoxious send-off to the centurion evoked boos from the audience. By then Head had set Australia on a good platform.

Scoreboard

India – 1st innings: 180 in 44.1 overs.

Australia – 1st innings: Usman Khawaja c Rohit b Bumrah 13 (35b, 2×4), Nathan McSweeney c Pant b Bumrah 39 (109b, 6×4), Marnus Labuschagne c Jaiswal b Nitish 64 (126b, 9×4), Steve Smith c Pant b Bumrah 2 (11b), Travis Head b Siraj 140 (141b, 17×4, 4×6), Mitchell Marsh c Pant b Ashwin 9 (26b, 1×4), Alex Carey c Pant b Siraj 15 (32b), Pat Cummins b Bumrah 12 (22b, 2×4), Mitchell Starc c Harshit b Siraj 18 (15b, 3×4), Nathan Lyon (not out) 4 (6b), Scott Boland b Siraj 0 (9b). Extras (b-13, lb-1, nb-7): 21

Total (all out in 87.3 overs): 337.

Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Khawaja, 10.6 overs), 2-91 (McSweeney, 36.1), 3-103 (Smith, 40.1), 4-168 (Labuschagne, 54.3), 5-208 (Marsh, 63.4), 6-282 (Carey, 76.6), 7-310 (Head, 81.4), 8-332 (Cummins, 84.6), 9-332 (Starc, 85.1).

India bowling: Bumrah 23-5-61-4, Siraj 24.3-5-98-4, Harshit 16-2-86-0, Nitish 6-2-25-1, R. Ashwin 18-4-53-1.

India – 2nd innings: Yashasvi Jaiswal c Carey b Boland 24 (31b, 4×4), K.L. Rahul c Carey b Cummins 7 (10b, 1×4), Shubman Gill b Starc 28 (30b, 3×4), Virat Kohli c Carey b Boland 11 (21b, 1×4), Rishabh Pant (batting) 28 (25b, 5×4), Rohit Sharma b Cummins 6 (15b, 1×4), Nitish Kumar (batting) 15 (14b, 3×4). Extras (b-5, lb-2, nb-5): 9.

Total (for five wkts., in 24 overs): 128.

Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Rahul, 3.5 overs), 2-42 (Jaiswal, 8.1), 3-66 (Kohli, 14.3), 4-86 (Gill, 17.2), 5-105 (Rohit, 20.5).

Australia bowling: Starc 9-0-49-1, Cummins 8-0-33-2, Boland 7-0-39-2.

Australia’s Travis Head prepares for the second Test against India in Adelaide, reflecting on past successes and facing formidable challenges.
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Under quirky Adelaide skies, sunny at one point, damp at another, Travis Head always feels at home. Back in his city in the lead-up to the second Test against India from Friday (December 6, 2024), Head is looking for clues from the past and equally gazing with hope into the immediate future.

In his previous two Tests at the Adelaide Oval, Head was adjudged as the ‘player-of-the-match’. Against India, he held his own in the first Test at Perth while many would recall his hundred in the 2023 ICC World Cup final that deflated Rohit Sharma’s men at Ahmedabad. Add to it India’s 36 during the 2020 Test here, and Head can surely lean on this rich vein of historical optimism.

But he is acutely conscious of India’s strengths quadrupled by Jasprit Bumrah’s role as a spearhead. “I am lucky that I have faced him a few times and I know what’s coming, just need to start well. He is unique. Jasprit is probably going to go down as one of the greatest fast bowlers and it will be nice to tell the grandkids that I faced him,” Head told the media in Adelaide on Monday (December 2, 2024).

The 295-run loss at Perth has been dealt with and Head elaborated: “We didn’t have a very good week but we have got four more opportunities. The writing was on the wall pretty quickly in that Test and we were pushing uphill.”

For the southpaw, the pink ball in the day and night Test in Adelaide, is no threat: “It’s still a game of cricket. It’s just a pink ball coming down, you face it in the same way and you have got to react to it the same way.”

Admitting an injured Josh Hazlewood will be missed, Head was quick to praise the reserve strength: “Josh is a huge loss but we have got some pretty good stocks in the sheds with Scott (Boland), Sean (Abbott) and (Brendan) Doggett.”

England’s Liam Livingstone celebrates hitting his half-century during the second One Day International match between England and Australia at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Liam Livingstone and Jacob Bethell shared 90 runs off 47 balls to lead England to a Twenty20 series-tying win over Australia at Sophia Gardens.

The series winner will be decided on Sunday (September 15, 2024) at Old Trafford.

Set 194 to win, England slipped to 79-3 when Phil Salt walked into an apparent trap laid by fellow stand-in captain Travis Head, holing out to Matthew Short, but Livingstone and Bethell broke the back of the chase.

Bethell’s dismissal for 44 off 24 balls with the finish line in sight disrupted England but Livingstone carried them to the brink of victory with a superb 87 off 47, including five sixes and six fours.

He was bowled with the scores tied and Brydon Carse senselessly slogged in the air next ball to give part-timer Short, who had previously taken only two international wickets, a shock maiden professional five-wicket haul.

However, Adil Rashid steered to backward point for the single England needed for a three-wicket win with six balls to spare and to tie the series 1-1.

Livingstone, in his 50th T20, earlier took 2-16 from three overs while Carse, barely a fortnight on from his return to cricket after a three-month ban for breaching betting regulations, also impressed with a couple of wickets as he filled in for Jofra Archer, breaching 90 mph (145 kph).

Head, the skipper in the absence of an ill Mitch Marsh, was again electric at the top of the order with 31 off 14 balls while Jake Fraser-McGurk’s 50 — his first international fifty — was followed by Australia plundering 60 from the final five overs to finish on 193-6.

Salt began the reply initially watchful, then belted three successive leg-side sixes off Aaron Hardie before Sean Abbott silenced the crowd with two wickets in three balls.

Will Jacks under-cooked a pull on 12 and Abbott’s nip-backer breached Jordan Cox’s defences. Livingstone was beaten by a beauty first up and then survived a review for lbw in an eventful over.

Undeterred, Livingstone cleared deep midwicket off Marcus Stoinis then got some payback on Abbott with three fours in an over as England closed to within two of Australia’s powerplay score, aided by a couple of fumbles on the rope by Fraser-McGurk.

Head’s gamble to introduce Short’s part-time off-spin reaped rewards, with Salt miscuing to fall for 39 off 23 balls.

Requiring 104 from the last 10 overs, Livingstone put the hammer down, scooping Cameron Green for six before twice depositing Stoinis into the crowd for a 27-ball fifty.

Bethell got into the act with a swing off slow left-armer Cooper Connolly before taking down Australia’s premier spinner Adam Zampa.

Bethell, in just his second T20, used his feet brilliantly to disrupt Zampa’s rhythm and took him for 4-6-4-4. But with 25 needed off the last four overs, he missed a reverse sweep off Short.

Short snared Curran in the same over and while Livingstone belted a six then a four off the spinner to level the scores, both he and Carse blotted their copybook before Rashid got England home.

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.