Is Travis Head the luckiest opening batsman or is it a parochial Indian fan’s lament? | Cricket News

No Australian cricketer in recent memory, not even Steve Smith, has lived rent-free in Indian fans’ head as much as their dazzling opener Travis Head. Re-runs of Head’s knock in the 2023 ODI world cup final might have vanished from Indian television and streaming devices but his assault has lived on in the minds. And with a caveat: the lingering chance-laden Powerplay, where Head was beaten and squared up Bumrah and Shami but not felled in that final, continues to make the fans squirm.Not that Head’s tryst with India is limited to that game. Before that in the home Test series in India, or in WTC final at the Oval, and now more recently in Australia, he has repeatedly stunned the Indians. But is there any truth about Head’s “lucky streak” or is it just a parochial fan’s lament?
Perhaps no cricketer has straddled with fortune as often as Head has in recent years. But what the 31-year-old does with that added vial of opportunities defines his belligerence across formats.
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When Mohammad Shami steps up with the new ball on Tuesday, it will be hard to suppress memories from that cold, fragile night in Ahmedabad. There will be no Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj to share the burden – the pain of those close shaves with Head’s outside edge, his off-stump and the wickets in total that never converted into a single-digit dismissal off a deviously snaking white Kookaburra. He would total 137 in 120 balls. Australia, a sixth World Cup.

Leading openers vs New Ball since 2023 in ODIs

Player
Inns
Runs
Balls
Outs
False Shot%
Control%
Left Alone%
Beaten%
Edged%

Travis Head
21
565
433
12
29%
71%
2%
11%
16.40%

Rohit Sharma
34
1069
866
16
19%
81%
7%
7%
10.70%

Shubman Gill
38
853
886
8
15%
85%
7%
5%
10.20%

Pathum Nissanka
46
937
1051
18
20.40%
79.50%
2.90%
4.90%
14.30%

Will Young
35
642
867
14
21.20%
78.80%
8.40%
7.50%
10.30%

Credit: Cricket-21

Shaky starts
India will need not look beyond Head’s two Champions Trophy outings to reaffirm that he will continue to offer a hoard of chances early on. It is up to Rohit’s men to seize the first given opportunity.
When Jofra Archer offered a wide, out-swinging delivery on length under lights in Lahore, Head’s half-baked swipe chipped straight back to the bowler’s pocket, falling for 6 (5) in the third over. Chasing 274 in a rain-marred clash against Afghanan at the same venue six days later, Head teased the brutality of a contrast. Left-arm seamer Fazalhaq Farooqi swung the ball away from a similar patch of Archer’s from a shorter length. Batting on 6* (5) this time, Head’s mimed pull was put down a fumbling Rashid Khan at mid-on. He smothered eight boundaries in the next 34 balls before a washout sealed Australia’s knock-out spot.

Jofra Archer takes down Travis Head, and Australia is in trouble early on!#ChampionsTrophyOnJioStar , LIVE NOW on Star Sports 2, Sports 18-1 & JioHotstar! pic.twitter.com/m0HsfMUJ
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) February 22, 2025
Rohit would remember an IPL night from last year too when the South Australian butchered Mumbai Indians on his SunRisers Hyderabad debut. Dropped on nine in the second over of the match, Head would immediately clobber 20 off four deliveries in the next over, finishing on 62 off 24 as SRH posted a colossal 277 on board.Story continues below this ad

Travis Head vs New Ball* across formats (ODIs +T20Is+Tests) since 2023

Travis Head
Inns
Runs
Balls
Outs
False Shot%
Control%
Left Alone%
Beaten%
Edged%

ODIs
21
565
433
12
29%
71%
2%
11%
16.40%

T20s
21
590
318
13
30.50%
69.50%
0.90%
11.30%
17.90%

Tests
16
290
349
10
19.10%
80.80%
4.30%
6.90%
10.60%

*(New Ball – ODI and T20I Powerplay; 15 overs in Tests) Credit: Cricket-21
Head and the Powerplay ‘opening’
Risk and chances, a slew of them in succession, are intrinsic to Head’s gameplay across formats. The fatalities of a drop or missed opportunity are pronounced in the white-ball set-ups where Head nearly leaves no delivery unattended.
According to Cricket-21 data, Head has left only two percent of the total deliveries (433) he has faced against the new ball in the first Powerplay across 21 ODI outings since 2023. In comparison, India openers Rohit and Shubman Gill leave about seven percent of their respective deliveries in the Powerplay.
Head’s protracted reliance on boundaries exaggerates the risks in the Powerplay. His non-boundary strike rate sticks at 27.1, with Gill (32.71) and Rohit (31.54) posing relatively higher emphasis on running between the wickets.Story continues below this ad
Stacking up against the four highest run-scoring ODI openers (Rohit, Gill, Will Young and Pathum Nissanka) in this period, Head’s false-shot percentage (shots not middled) stands the highest at 29. The Aussie left-hander is also beaten more than his contemporaries, with 11 percentage (47.8) deliveries making up his Powerplay shares. The corresponding figures for Rohit and Gill read 7% and 5% respectively.

Cost of Dropped chances Openers since 2023 in ODIs

Players
Inns
Runs
Dismissals
Total Drops
Runs after Drop
Cost of Drop/Inns
False Shots/Dismissal

Rohit Sharma
35
1610
33
9
244
34.9
7.6

Travis Head
21
905
17
12
302
37.8
9.6

Will Young
35
1397
32
6
107
21.4
9.4

Shubman Gill
38
2049
33
14
441
44.1
7.6

Pathum Nissanka
46
1931
42
14
372
33.8
8.4

Credit: Cricket-21
Head’s erratic starts have also borne more than 70 edged strokes in this period, collectively indicating a chance for the opposition nearly every 3.4 deliveries he faces in the ODI Powerplay. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence then that Head’s T20I strokeplay displays similar strands of streakiness in the first six overs, with negligible deviation in the false shot percentages.
Head, however, has mastered leveraging his second chances to its fullest. A third of Head’s 905 runs in ODIs since the last World Cup year have come on the back of dropped chances. Dropped on a staggering 12 of the total 29 dismissal chances he has offered in 21 innings, Head has gathered 302 runs — each let-off adding 37.8 more runs to his and Australia’s tally.Story continues below this ad
While Gill aggregates more (44.1) with each dropped catch and Rohit (34.1) nearly matches up to the Aussie’s effectiveness from a reprieve, the Indian openers offer significantly condensed false strokes (7.6) per dismissal when stacked up against Head who exudes about 10 false shots between each of his 17 dismissals in the last two years.

Dubai could be no different for the nerveless Head. He will leave breadcrumbs for India and wield the willow as hard as ever, but make ‘em pay for any loose ends early on.