Nine years ago, a young Travis Head had just started to make waves in the Big Bash League as well as the domestic 50-over Matador Cup with his quick scoring. Head, though, couldn’t overcome one of the challenges thrown at him – facing Mitchell Starc at the peak of his white-ball prowess. Three times in the space of just three weeks, he was castled by Starc. A couple of years later, he was once more dislodged by the same bowler.
Incredibly, seven years on, in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2024, it seemed like an action replay of some of the archived footage as Starc got one through the gate to again dislodge his opponent for no score. Incidentally, Starc has now removed Head for a duck four times. So, how has he got the better of his opponent? And how can Head find an escape route against his nemesis?
Head’s first three dismissals while facing Starc give an idea of his Australian teammate’s target zone. It is quite evident that Head’s back foot doesn’t move across much and his aim is to eye any width outside the off stump or down leg in order to free his arms. In this context, Plan A would be to cramp him for room by attacking the stumps. As a left-arm pace bowler, it is also easier for Starc to implement the strategy from that angle.
Here, it also has to be observed that Head is one of the best when it comes to maximising his strengths. Hence, the execution has to be near-perfect. Starc did just that in his first three outings against Head. On the first two occasions, it was the inswinger on a full length, straightening a bit on the angle.
In the subsequent Sheffield Shield game, Head had worked out Starc’s game plan to an extent. As a result, his front foot was moving more towards the pitch of the ball. Starc still outmaneuvered him by getting it to start from slightly wider off-stump and rattle the timber. The length also was a tad shorter. With a built-in memory of how to bowl at Head, it was no-brainer that Starc employed a similar method to send his bunny back to the hut in Ahmedabad. In that backdrop, the ultra-aggressive Head probably needs to be a bit cautious while up against Starc.
In fact, in SRH’s previous game, Head didn’t look to play fancy through-the-line shots in his match-up against the left-arm angle of Trent Boult. Head wasn’t always convincing as he eked out a few inside edges, but he got through that opening spell. He was helped by the fact that the unsung Rahul Tripathi took most of the strike to negate Boult’s threat. Tripathi, however, is set to come at No. 3, with the explosive Abhishek Sharma opening the batting alongside Head.
The curious part is that Abhishek’s method is similar to that of Head. No wonder, Starc went on to say after this KKR-SRH game, “The way Head and Abhishek have been playing throughout the tournament, they like width and freeing their arms. We just tried to swing the ball and not provide them with width, bowling stump to stump and using the hard length.”
The KKR-SRH final has enough intriguing plots and subplots. Starc versus SRH’s opening pair is definitely on top. Will Head conquer his demons and safely navigate past the Starc menace? We will get the answer in a few hours.