How can Team India get rid of their nightmare Travis Head? Aussie batter loves to toy with Indian bowlers

Destructive left-handed Australian batsman Travis Head has proven to be a constant headache for the Indian Cricket Team be it in T20 Internationals, One Day Internationals or Test-Matches. He never fails to deliver versus Team India. 

Former Indian Cricketer Mohammad Kaif asked the other whether the Men in Blue have found a solution to get rid of Head Or not, who single-handedly led the Aussies to victory with a hundred in the 2023 WTC Final, 2023 ODI World Cup Final, the Adelaide Test-Match and most recently the Gabba Test-Match too. Kaif also went on to question why the Rohit Sharma-led Team have failed to find the weaknesses of Head just as their opponents have found ways to get rid of Virat Kohli. 

Let's take a look at what the stats say and see what kind of strategies the Indian Cricket Team should use to prevent Head from becoming a nightmare in the remaining Tests as well. 

Offside Trap

Travis Head has a tendency of getting hit by balls that come to the 4th and 5th stumps at the beginning of the inning. The 30-year-old, who is also a great off-side player, will also play these same balls well once he gets set at the crease. Therefore, statistics say that if at the first 10 deliveries of the inning are bowled to him on the fourth or fifth stumps line, then there's a bigger chance of dismissing Head.

The weapon known as the bouncer

Another area where Travis Head has a weakness is the the short-pitched deliveries which hit the body. The 30-year-old, who played a magnificent inning of 140 runs in 141 deliveries in the first inning in the Adelaide test, has faced a total of just five bouncers in total. While he has an average of 55 versus the short balls, the figures show that this drops to 20 for short-pitched deliveries which hit the body. 

But on short-pitched deliveries that miss the target, the average of the 30-year-old increases to 83.5. If the ball pitches outside the off-stump, the average sees a significant increase to 173. Thus, if you know how to execute proper bouncers, If you don't follow the accurate line and length, then there's a chance of retaliation shown by Head. 

In the Adelaide Test-Match, a total of 34 short-pitched deliveries were bowled to Head by the Indian bowlers, but majority of them were in the outside off-stump region. Only five of them were hitting the body and the balls bowled outside off were also smashed for boundaries by the Southpaw. 

Prevent runs, know yorkers

The third strategy to keep Head safe is to block easy runs. Along with that, try yorkers. Head was dismissed by Siraj's yorker in Adelaide and Harshit Rana's yorker in the first innings in Perth. Earlier this year, when West Indies defeated Australia at the Gabba, Shamar Joseph also dismissed Head with a yorker. But even there, if there is no accuracy, if the over is pitched or full, Head will be hit.

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