Travis Head changed the course of the match and put England’s fast bowlers under pressure with a century in the first Ashes Test on Saturday, as Australia wrapped up an eight-wicket win with three days left.Head countered England’s attacking “Bazball” approach with a hundred off 69 balls. He opened the innings after Usman Khawaja was injured and was moved up the order.
Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin praised Head for his innings in Perth. Ashwin said Head “wins way too many games than anybody else in the current day and age of cricket”.In the 2023 ODI World Cup final in Ahmedabad on November 19th, Head had scored 137 against India, helping Australia win their sixth World Cup title. November again brought a strong Head performance. Living up to internet memes about him scoring big against teams in blue jerseys, including India and England, the left-hander made a 69-ball century, the second-fastest in Ashes history. His innings helped Australia chase 205 on the second day at Optus Stadium. Australia were without Josh Hazlewood and captain Pat Cummins, but still went 1-0 up in the five-match series. England could not take advantage of a chance to lead the series.Speaking on his YouTube channel ‘Ash ki Baat’, Ashwin spoke about how Head can shift matches quickly and joked that, as a “well-wisher of Indian cricket”, he hoped Australia would not make Head captain because “if they do, he does not know what all he will go on to achieve”.“When Travis Head gets on a roll, right, he wins too many games than anybody else in the current day and age of cricket. And I really hope, from the side of an Indian cricket fan and an Indian cricket well-wisher. Obviously, I do not want Australia winning a lot, I really hope Australia doesn’t go the route of making Travis Head the captain at some stage,” he said.“If he becomes captain, I do not know what all he will go on to achieve. I am saying he has got all the requisite leadership qualities,” he added.Ashwin also said, “In November, Travis Head completely cooks,” while describing how Head moved far outside the stumps to play some shots.“In November, Travis Head cooks. He completely cooked it, there is no doubt. He played two or three shots, I posted a tweet, and he moved completely away from the stumps, with the distance from his front foot to the ball being at least a kilometre. From there, he hit it. Look at how he rattled them. He moved away, swung, didn’t connect fully with the bat, and the ball completely missed the set of stumps and went under the leg stump. Look at how it moved, look at how he hit it, and the bowler was completely rattled.”Head scored 123 from 83 balls, with 16 fours and four sixes, while Marnus Labuschagne made 51* from 49 balls. Australia reached the target in 28.2 overs.Mitchell Starc was named Player of the Match for taking ten wickets.
