Australia's left-handed batter Travis Head has been becoming a headache for the Rohit Sharma-led side as the southpaw scored two consecutive centuries during the second and third Test matches of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. The southpaw was the standout performer whereas Indian batters failed to score the 50 runs mark. Head is undoubtedly one of the best Australian batters but Pat Cummins & Co.'s batting plan when playing at home with the Kookaburra is making it easy for the middle order.
Australia are coming up with a plan where the top order is gobbling up at least the first 180 deliveries so that Travis Head can come to bat after 30 overs.
Travis Head, India's biggest 'Headache'
As Fox Cricket wrote “According to the Australians, batting becomes easier after 30 overs, which has been earmarked as the ideal time for the likes of Head and Mitchell Marsh to pounce on a fatiguing opponent….Smith and Head pinpointed the 30-over mark as their sweet spot, the ideal time to start their innings.”
Australia haven’t won a Test since 2018 if Head isn’t a part of the team.
The new Kookaburra ball who came into the game in 2021 has been a headache for most batters as Fox also said that the new ball has led to “shorter Test matches and lower batting averages.”
Head's most centuries knock came when the ball wasn't too shiny or too soft.
Head told Fox at stumps, “At No. 5, I’m watching the overs tick up. I think we were at the 30-over mark when I was able to come in, and we’ve talked about that, the 30-over mark. The top order did a really good job to be able to get us through that period and then (Smith and I) were able to go about our work.”
Pat Cummins' mind games against India
Notably, if you take a look at the first Test, Australia lost three wickets in 6.5 overs as the ball was new, Head was seen struggling against Indian pacers and cheaply dismissed after scoring just 11 runs. During the second innings, Steve Smith played most of the balls before getting out by Mohammed Siraj during the 25th over. Head who joined the batting during the sixth over faced lesser balls and Smith faced 60 balls so again the batter managed to score 89 runs before getting picked by Jasprit Bumrah. During the second Test (pink ball day/night) clash in Adelaide top order batters again played more than 30 overs before Head came to bat and he scored 140 runs and defeated India by 10 wickets. This stat clearly shows that it is easy to bat with a new Kookaburra ball with (an extra layer of lacquer).
Now take a look at India's batting in Border-Gavaskar Trophy
India's batters managed to score just 150 runs during the first Test match as the top batters got out under 28 overs. Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy who were the standout performers batted till 46 and 50 overs respectively. Second Test match in Adelaide India again lost their six wickets under 33 overs in first innings and lost seven wickets under 30 overs in second innings.
Why Travis Head scoring against India
This stats clearly shows that he is coming to bat after 30 overs when extra lacquerd Kookaburra ball becomes easy to bat and India are lacking because they are losing their top order under 30 overs.
