ICC World Cup: Head destined for big things

Australia's Travis Head put on a show of fire, mixed with the occasional ice, to turn into India’s nightmare in a matter of 120 balls. His 137 was the cornerstone on which Australia’s sixth title was won.

Ahmedabad: It would have been tough to assign Travis Head with the tag of ‘good’, ’bad’ or ‘ugly’ based on the five games he had opened for Australia this World Cup. 

Doesn’t matter, though, because he earned the label of ‘world champion’ on Sunday. 

Coming into this game with under 200 runs from five games, Head was Australia’s knock-yourself-out option. In a sense, he was brought in to do what he has always done, and what India’s Rohit Sharma has learnt how to do. 

The difference was obvious in the way the evening played out because the aggressor from Adelaide outdid the marauder from Mumbai in ways Ahmedabad could, but didn’t, want to fathom.

He put on a show of fire, mixed with the occasional ice, to turn into India’s nightmare in a matter of 120 balls. His 137 was the cornerstone on which Australia’s sixth title was won. 

And to think that he was resting at home with a fracture to his left arm with only days left to board his flight to India! 

Struck by a rather nasty bouncer during the third ODI between Australia and South Africa, Head returned home, but the Australian management reckoned him too useful a resource to ignore, even if he had only a few games to power through. 

Five games went by with Pat Cummins insisting that Head would return and find his way into the side. Well, that gamble suddenly made sense because Head kicked off his campaign with a 67-ball 109 in Australia’s five-run win over New Zealand. 

Australia were desperate at this point to keep their semifinal hopes alive. Head may have delivered in his opener, but he failed the next three games with scores of 11, 0 and 10. They persisted with him nevertheless. 

Then that semifinal came by against South Africa and Head did his bit again, as 48-ball 62. 

See, Head was always destined for big things. From the time he was called up for the T20I series against India in 2016, you knew the rather well-built 22-year-old could hit the ball a long way. 

Of course, there were years which went by as he was ignored by the selectors for his inability to pick the right shots, but a sweet spot remained, maybe it was the moustache. 

That persistence and trust in those who come through the system was repaid in kind on the biggest stage at the biggest moment of Head's career.

It was an innings which began with as much clarity as a batter could afford. His role was to take India on. He wasn’t told to hang back and see what happens once a couple of wickets, or even three, fall. 

His assignment was to put the ball away when it was there to be put away. 

If you truly wanted to understand just how well he did his job, you should have pressed your ears to a screen to hear the sound of over 1 lakh people. You wouldn’t have heard a thing, save for maybe the sound of Head’s bat making sweet, sweet contact with every delivery the Indians had to bowl. 

The silence was as unsettling as it was beautiful for it encapsulated not only Australia’s never-say-die spirit, but it also paid homage to the most popular moustache in this part of the world, even if only for a night.