How do you stop Travis Head? 

If the last couple of years are anything to go by, you would know that it is near impossible. He has not looked back since returning to the fold in Australian colours in December 2021. Since then, Head has transformed his game to the next level and his success in all three formats has been synonymous with Australia’s success, which has cumulated in them winning the World Test Championship (WTC) and also the ODI World Cup with Head playing a starring role in both the final.

He is now going great guns in the Major League Cricket (MLC) with Washington Freedom as well. He cannot do anything wrong, can he? Let’s take a closer look at how the southpaw has fared in the last 2-3 years.

The comeback

Head returned in Australian colours during the 2021-22 Ashes series, which was also a new era in Australian cricket as Pat Cummins took over as captain for the first time. He marked his return with a bludgeoning century in the first Test at the Gabba, getting to the milestone off just 85 deliveries, which was the start of a special series for the batter. He finished as the leading run-getter in the series, smashing 357 runs at nearly 60, and the most staggering part was the fact that he got those runs at a strike rate of 86.02. In a way, he bazballed Bazball.

If that was not enough, he marked his ODI return – his first match in the format in over three years –with a ton off just 70 deliveries against Pakistan in Lahore. He finished the series with 190 runs at a strike rate of 132.86. In the months to come, he established himself as the first-choice opener in ODIs following Aaron Finch’s retirement.

The consolidation

Head did not throw it away after a successful return. He kept on churning out the runs in the 2022-23 home summer, the highlight of which was a counter-attacking 92 (96) against South Africa at the Gabba in tricky conditions after he walked in at 27/3. He followed that up with 51 (55) in Melbourne and 70 (59) in Sydney in the next two Tests as Australia claimed the series 2-0. Head ended up as the joint-highest run-getter, hitting 213 runs at better than run-a-ball. He also had an excellent series against the West Indies before this, slamming 99 in Perth and followed that up with a career-best 175.

He further proved his Test credentials with some top-notch performances in India. In fact, he was moved to open the innings in the last three Tests after David Warner was ruled out of the series with an elbow injury. His scores in the series read: 12, 43, 9, 49*, 32 and 90. The Aussies lost the series, but did enough to make it through to the WTC final against India at The Oval.

The hunger continues

By now, the world was aware of what Head brought to the table. The flip side was that everyone knew his weakness as well, which was against the short balls. He overcame that obstacle with yet another big ton – this time against India in the WTC final. The morning session on the opening day of the Test may have gone to India, but after that, it was all about Head, who nonchalantly slammed 163 at a strike rate of over 90 that took Australia from a par first-innings total to a match-winning one.

That was not the end of his hunger. If anything, his appetite just went up a notch as he had yet another good Ashes series – this time in England. While a huge ton may have eluded him, he made his mark with three fifties and a couple of 40s to steady the Australian innings.

A minor blip, if ever there was one for Head, was that he was ruled out of the initial stages of the ODI World Cup after he suffered a blow to his left hand after being struck by Gerald Coetzee. Any other team may have chosen to have gone into such a massive tournament with a replacement, but not Australia. He was part of their final 15, and boy, was it a terrific move. 

After missing the first five games, a fresh Head bludgeoned New Zealand in Dharamsala with 109 off just 67. He then followed that up with 62 off 48 in a low-scoring encounter against South Africa in the semis and in the final, he broke a billion hearts with a match-winning ton against India. 

As a result, he became only the second Aussie after Shane Warne to win the Player of the Match in the semi-final and the final of a World Cup. 

Still going strong

Would a World Cup win slow Head down? Definitely not!

In fact, Head was handed the responsibility of opening the innings even in T20Is after Finch’s departure. Since then, he has scored the most runs for Australia in the format, with 566 runs at a strike rate of 162.64. Moreover, he further justified his place by top-scoring for Australia in the T20 World Cup with 255 runs at 42.50 and an SR of 158.38. Only David Warner (289) and Matthew Hayden (265) had scored more runs in a single edition.

Before that, though, he had a brilliant IPL 2024 with SRH, playing a key role in the Orange Army’s run to the final. He slammed four fifties and a century in his 15 innings and stuck at over 190. With a cut-off of 350 runs, no opening batter in the history of IPL has scored at a better rate.

And now, even in the MLC, he has registered scores of 54, 54, 53, 56 and 77 for Washington Freedom in continuous innings, making him only the second Australian batter to slam five fifties in a row in T20 cricket.

The 30-year-old’s legend keeps growing with each passing day and will have a massive role to play for Australia now that Warner too has retired. His teams, be it Australia or franchise T20 teams, would hope to make the best of his purple patch for as long as it lasts.

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