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IND vs AUS 3rd Test: India hope to find 'Head'ache cure Head does have a chink in his armour and a few teams have exploited that to keep him in check -- by bowling well-directed bouncers at his body.
Madhu Jawali
Last Updated IST
<div class="paragraphs"><p>Australia's Travis Head celebrates scoring a century</p></div>

Australia's Travis Head celebrates scoring a century

Credit: Reuters Photo

Brisbane: In India, in Australia, in neutral venue and in different formats. By now, Indian bowlers might have had enough of Travis Head.

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Since the World Test Championship final in June 2023, Head has amassed 456 runs against India in five innings at a staggering average of 84.20 but what makes him more dangerous is the strike rate at which he scores. And that stands at 92.32 right now. His 137 in the 50-over World Cup final in Ahmedabad late last year had stunned a nation of 1.4 billion into silence. And if India are to make a headway in the third Test at the Gabba, they will have to find a way or two to quieten the South Australian marauder.

That's easier said than done, though. Head is a difficult batter to bowl at wherein he takes the attack to you and dictates your lengths and lines. If you don't have Plan B, you are cooked on the day which has been the story so far for India.

"It feels like every time he walks out, (if) the game's kind of in the balance, can go one of two ways and, within the space of a session or so, he really took the game out of their hands," Pat Cummins said after the Adelaide Test. "Just puts the pressure right back onto the opposition. Amazing, he's done it time and time again for us in many different formats and he's super impressive."

In Adelaide, India, seemingly carried away by the extra movement and bounce of the pink ball, bowled in the corridor in the hope that the 30-year-old would nick one behind. As they strayed in their lines, Head was only too happy to cash in on the width provided to him. They barely tested him by cramping him on the leg. And you can't set the field for bad bowling.  

"For sure, it's always exciting to watch Travis batting," Cummins said when asked if he sits back and enjoys his batting. "There's always something going on. He's all over the crease. He is flaying balls through the offside from off-stump. Again, like a lot of the other players, so lucky he's on our side because as a captain I wouldn't know how to bowl to him or how to set field for him at the moment."

Head does have a chink in his armour and a few teams have exploited that to keep him in check -- by bowling well-directed bouncers at his body. India, however, have been averse to use that option against him. It's not like they don't have bowlers capable of bowling those lines. 

In Adelaide, he was hardly tested with short-balls on his body and if multiple reports are to be believed, he faced just four such deliveries. 

While their reluctance to use the short-ball tactic so far is strange to say the least, one can only hope better sense would prevail.      

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(Published 13 December 2024, 21:37 IST)