Former Australian captain and wicket-keeper batter Tim Paine has revealed the reason behind Travis Head’s meteoric rise in international cricket. Travis Head is one of the best all-format batters of Australia and his aggressive and attacking intent has bailed Australia out of tough situations on several occasions.
With the series 0-1 down and Australia batted in a tricky situation of 103-3, Travis Head came and stole the show in the 2nd Test match at Adelaide. It was fitting that he scored such a sensational century in front of his home crowd in his home town of Adelaide.
Tim Paine, who was the captain of Australia from 2018-2021, revealed that the departure of former Australian Head Coach Justin Langer might have helped Travis Head in blossoming into such a terrific player, who has an indomitable spirit.
“I don’t think either of them will mind me saying this, but I think he (Travis Head) and JL (Justin Langer) used to have a real difference of opinion,” said Tim Paine to SEN Breakfast.
“They were trying really hard for him to work on his defence and it wasn’t the way he wanted to go about it, but he was a young Test player who was trying to impress and trying to stay in the team, so he was trying to please a bit of everyone. I think that’s been the major shift in his output because he is sticking true to the way he wants to play,” said the former Australian wicket-keeper batter.
He’s going to try and be a matchwinner: Tim Paine
Tim Paine has heaped praise on Travis Head and has labelled him as a ‘matchwinner’. Paine further said that Travis Head sticks to his attacking gameplan and that has helped him a lot in international cricket, across all the formats.
“At times he’s going to fail and at times he’s gonna have lean patches, but he’s going to be super aggressive, he’s going to play his shots and he’s going to try and be a matchwinner and we’re just seeing him blossom at the moment in all formats of the game. But Travis Head plays how Travis Head plays and he has absolute conviction in the way he goes about it. It is amazing to watch a guy just at the peak of his powers at the moment,” Paine said.
As per Paine, Travis Head’s career underwent a significant transformation and he became an all-format beast as a result of the confidence that Pat Cummins and Andrew McDonald gave him.
In crucial games, including the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) Final, the 2023 ODI World Cup Final, and the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024–25, Head has tormented India and has sent shivers down the spines of the Indian bowlers.
