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Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has paid a massive compliment to Australian cricketer Travis Head, stating that the aggressive batter reminds him of Adam Gilchrist. Comparing the two, Jaffer opined that, like Gilchrist, Head also comes in and attacks the opposition bowlers when Australia are under pressure.
Head was the Player of the Match for his brilliant 163 off 174 balls in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India. Sent into bat after losing the toss, Australia were in a spot of bother at 76/3 on Day 1. Head and Steven Smith (121 off 268) then added 285 runs for the fourth wicket to put Australia in command of the WTC final at The Oval.
The 29-year-old struck 25 fours and a six before perishing to a short ball from Mohammed Siraj on Day 2.
Hailing Head for his excellent batting effort, Jaffer told Sportskeeda:
“There are shades of Adam Gilchrist in Travis Head’s batting. He has been one of Australia’s most consistent players in recent times after Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. Usman Khawaja has also scored a lot of runs, but Travis Head is a much improved player in recent times.
“We saw in the Ashes as well, when Australia are in trouble due to early wickets, he comes in and counter attacks. The opposition bowlers and captains fear such batters,” he added.
Having made his Test debut in 2018, Head has played 37 matches so far, scoring 2542 at an average of 47.07, with six hundreds and 13 fifties.
“Head’s innings was the game-changing moment” - Jaffer
Analyzing the impact of Head’s knock in the WTC final against India, Jaffer described his effort as a game-changing moment for Australia.
The former cricketer stated:
“Head’s innings was the game-changing moment for Australia. They were asked for bat first after losing the toss and found themselves at 70-odd for three wickets. The Test could have gone either way from there. But he came in and featured in that massive partnership [with Smith].”
After winning the toss and bowling first, India got off to a great start as Siraj had Usman Khawaja caught behind for a duck. Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami then dismissed David Warner (43) and Marnus Labuschagne (26) on either side of the lunch break on Day 1.
Head and Smith then combined in a brilliant rearguard as Australia posted 469 in their first innings.
