On the opening day of the World Test Championship final against India, Travis Head achieved the milestone of scoring his sixth Test century as he ended up with 146 runs off just 156 deliveries at stumps. With his aggressive style of play, Head put India in a difficult position as Australia finished the day at 327 for 3.
On his part, Head noted that Australia put up a good show, especially in the backdrop of the fact that they were put in to bat in conditions that were good for pace bowling. The southpaw also said that he felt in good touch for most part of his unbeaten innings. “After losing the toss this morning, we’ve done an exceptionally good job on day one. Lot of hard work to do in the morning, but nice to come off with a really good start,” Head told the host broadcasters.
“Making sure I am in really good position, I felt like today I was for most of my innings. I was tested, there were moments I thought they were going to come with plans. Trying to be adjustable on the job, work through and negate those periods and stay relaxed at the same time,” he added.
Head also shared a potentially game-breaking alliance of 251 with Steven Smith. Head pointed out that it is always a pleasure to bat alongside Smith as opposition teams generally concentrate a lot more on how to dismiss his senior batting partner. “It’s nice when you have got a bloke at the other end playing as well as he is. I always love batting with Steve, I always feel I go under the radar, because there are so many plans bowling to him. You say second fiddle, but I feel like I am doing that to him.”
While there has been a lot of debate around the Oval pitch for the WTC final as India opted to bowl first in the summit clash, Head clarified that the track was a bit slow. “As it gets quicker, you may see more nicks. It was a touch slow, it was challenging with both new balls.”
Head has been in sensational form for Australia since November 2022. During the period, the southpaw has amassed 906 runs in 14 innings at an average of 86.28. Whereas his strike-rate of 81.91 in the WTC cycle 2021-23 is the highest.
“Travis Head continued to play his shots. I believe the Indian bowlers missed an opportunity by not bowling short at him for four or five overs when he first came in. He got away quite easily. He scored a lot of runs square of the wicket,” commented former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on Star Sports.