Australia’s Travis Head had a great outing on day 1 of the WTC final 2023 against India at the Oval. He ended up collecting an unbeaten 146 from just 156 deliveries after Australia were reeling at 76/3. Head smashed the Indian bowlers, hitting them 23 fours and a maximum. He was also involved in a 251-run partnership with Steve Smith for the fourth wicket.
After getting a hundred, former Australian great Matthew Hayden reserved big praise for the batter. Hayden also compared him with former Australian opener Adam Gilchrist.
“One of the things we have seen over this World Championship cycle (since 2021) in Tests, is that not only did Head score over 1000 runs, but he did so at a strike rate of 80+. That’s really hard to do, especially when you’re playing in such pressure. Right now, he’s in the prime form of his career. He’s almost like Adam Gilchrist was in his day. Somehow able to put so much pressure on opposition simply because they do not know where to bowl. I do think he’s under-rated,” Hayden told ICC.
“One of the criticisms of him is that in the sub-continent, he’s not the best player of spin. My personal opinion of that view is that it was complete nonsense. You saw after he was selected later on in the India series, the impact he made on the Australian team, that too in difficult conditions in India,” Hayden added.
It was because of Head’s innings that Australia managed to end day 1 on 327/3 after 85 overs of play. When Travis came out to bat Australia were three down so he started building his innings slowly. After staying at the crease for a while, he started tormenting Indian bowlers and played some eye-pleasant punches off his Backfoot. Post getting a century, Head also became the first cricketer to get a hundred in a World Test Championship final.