SRH bowling coach provides massive fitness update on Travis Head ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs RCB

Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowling coach James Franklin has said that opening batter Travis Head has rejoined the squad after testing negative for COVID-19, and is available for selection. The Orange Army are set to take on their Southern rivals, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Friday, May 23.

The match was initially slated to be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. However, a red alert in the city due to inclement weather has forced the organisers to shift the contest. RCB's recent contest at the venue against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which was supposed to kick-start IPL 2025 after the one-week suspension, was washed out without a single ball being bowled.

Travis Head had missed SRH's previous contest against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) as he was in quarantine after contracting COVID-19 during the brief break. The Pat Cummins-led side did not quite miss his services as Abhishek Sharma's quick-fire fifty ensured a six-wicket win in the high-scoring contest.

The explosive Australian is expected to be straight back in the playing XI after recovering from the illness.

"As far as I'm aware, he's gone through all the necessary COVID protocols. So yes, he's fit and ready for selection for tomorrow's game," Franklin said during the pre-match press conference (via the Times of India).

In Head's absence for the previous clash, SRH had replaced him with Vidarbha batter Atharva Taide. The opener scored 13 runs off nine deliveries, playing second fiddle to Abhishek Sharma in his brief stay.

Travis Head scored a sublime hundred against RCB in IPL 2024

The left-handed batter has played twice against his former team, scoring 103 runs at an average of 51.50, and a strike rate of 234.09. He hit a 41-ball 102 when SRH faced their rivals at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in IPL 2024. However, in the reverse fixture, he was dismissed for just 1 after being dismissed by Will Jacks in the very first over of the contest.

SRH have already been knocked out of the playoffs race, but could move one point closer to the seventh-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), whom they face on Sunday, May 25, in their last match of the season.