Perth [Australia], November 23 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran hailed Travis Head for his explosive knock in the first Ashes Test at Perth, saying that he “wins more too many games than anybody else in the current day and age of cricket” and also backed him as a future captain at franchise cricket and international level, pointing out he has got “all the requsite leadership qualities”.
The month of November and another Travis masterclass. Living up to internet memes about him bashing teams with blue jerseys, most notably India and England, the left-hander saw blue and piled up a 69-ball century, the second-fastest in Ashes history to help Australia chase down an easy target of 205 runs on the second day of the Ashes opener at Perth’s Optus Stadium. Even without the presence of their frontline pacers, Josh Hazlewood and skipper Pat Cummins, Australia managed to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series, with the Three Lions failing at their best chance to take a series lead.
On his Youtube Channel, Ashwin hailed Head’s ability to take away matches from his opponents in a blink of an eye and jokingly said that as a “well-wisher of Indian cricket”, he hopes Australia does not make him the captain because if they do, he does not know “what all he will go on to achieve”.
“When Travis Head gets on a roll, right, he wins too many games than anybody else in the current day and age of cricket. And I really hope, from the side of an Indian cricket fan and an Indian cricket well-wisher. Obviously, I do not want Australia winning a lot, I really hope Australia doesn’t go the route of making Travis Head the captain at some stage,” he said.
“If he becomes captain, I do not know what all he will go on to achieve. I am saying he has got all the requisite leadership qualities, and as a batting inspirational, he can really take a team along. I hope, I mean maybe he could be a captain of a franchise before captaincy in Australia,” he added.
Speaking on his knock further, Ashwin said that “In November, Travis Head completely cooks”. He also pointed out how he was moving completely away from his stumps while playing some of his shots.
“In November, Travis Head cooks. He completely cooked it, there is no doubt. He played two or three shots, I posted a tweet, and he moved completely away from the stumps, with the distance from his front foot to the ball being at least a kilometre. From there, he hit it. Look at how he rattled them. He moved away, swung, didn’t connect fully with the bat, and the ball completely missed the set of stumps and went under the leg stump. Look at how it moved, look at how he hit it, and the bowler was completely rattled.”
“He came in and played that pickup shot off Mark Wood. To me, that was the shot of the day because it was a bit early in the innings, and I expected Mark Wood to go at him. But he chipped it inside, and because the fine leg behind is small and the front boundary is small while the side is big, he came inside and picked it up. You know that is the best place to hit a six. And then, obviously, he played two or three more shots,” he added.
Coming to the match, England won the toss and opted to bat first. Despite Ben Duckett (21 in 20 balls, with four boundaries) showing sublime touch, England slumped to 39/3, with Joe Root’s duck being a highlight of Mitchell Starc’s initial six-over burst that gave him three wickets. A half-century stand between Ollie Pope (46 in 58 balls, with four boundaries) and Harry Brook stabilised things for England, but half the side was back in the hut for 115 runs.
Later, Brook (52 in 61 balls, with five fours and a six) and Jamie Smith (33 in 22 balls, with six fours) tried to counter-attack, but Starc (7/58) and Doggett (2/27) put a lid on England’s scoring, who were also committing batting harakiri with some questionable shot selection. England was undone for 172 runs in 32.5 overs.
In their first innings, Australia found it really hard dealing with the pace and bounce of Jofra Archer (2/11) and Brydon Carse (3/45) as they slumped to 31/4. Travis Head (21 in 35 balls, with a four) and Cameron Green (24 in 50 balls, with two fours) stitched a 45-run stand, but a five-wicket haul by England skipper Ben Stokes (5/23) led to the Aussies being undone for 132 runs. England led by 40 runs.
England did lose Crawley for another duck to Starc, but a half-century stand between Ben Duckett (28 in 40 balls, with three fours) and Ollie Pope (33 in 57 balls, with two fours) took England’s lead beyond 100 runs. But this upper hand was short-lived as the trio of Scott Boland (4/33), Starc (3/55), and Brendan Doggett (3/51) took wickets at regular intervals, leaving England at 104/7 at one point. A half-century stand between Brydon Carse (20 in 20 balls, with a four and two sixes) and Gus Atkinson (37 in 32 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took England to a lead above 200 runs. They were skittled out for 164 runs, setting the Aussies 205 runs to win.
Head (123 in 83 balls, with 16 fours and four sixes) and Marnus Labuschagne (51* in 49 balls, with six fours and a six) won the match single-handedly for Aussies, chasing the target in just 28.2 overs.
Starc secured the ‘Player of the Match’ for his ten-wicket haul. (ANI)
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