- Travis Head has been Australia’s best batsman for the Border-Gavaskar series
- He had shoscked some with his bizarre celebration during the Boxing Day Test
- The South Australian hit back-to-back centuries in Brisbane and Adelaide
Travis Head’s World Cup heroics will live long in the minds of many India fans.
In the past few years, he has been the bane of the Indian cricket team, notably hitting an epic 137 runs off 120 balls to help Australia win the 2023 Cricket World Cup.
During the Border-Gavaskar series, the 31-year-old returned to face off against India, easily taking the crown as Australia’s best and most consistent batter of the summer.
Head’s final stats also saw him amass a huge total of 448 runs – the most of any player in Pat Cummins’ side.
But while the laid-back South Australian had struggled to find a big score towards the end of the series, he did, however help the hosts clinch victory at the SCG, with an unbeaten score of 34.
Prior to that, he had struck an 89 in Perth, 140 in Adelaide and hit 152 runs in Brisbane – three hefty totals that also saw Head collect back-to-back player-of-the-match awards.
In light of his brilliant form, the 31-year-old revealed that he had actually gone to lengths to impose a ‘secret booze ban’ on himself in a bid to give Australia every advantage they coul, to secure victory against India.
Travis Head impressed as Australia’s best batsman during the Border-Gavaskar Series
Head (centre) would strike back-to-back centuries in Adelaide and Brisbane and would deliver a final score of 34 in Sydney to seal the series win
Head explained that he would go on to enjoy a few well deserved beers with his team-mates after the series had concluded before revealing he hadn’t drunk in approximately three months.
The vice-captain told Fox Cricket after the Test: ‘I’m wrecked.
‘I don’t know what I’m going to do the next few days.
‘But like I said, we’ve got 12 days off now before we go to Sri Lanka and I’m going to use every little bit of that.
‘It’s been a tough tour. I’ll look forward to a couple of cold ones (after the match).
‘I’ve been off the drink for a bit so I’ll look after myself and our attention will quickly turn to what’s next. So, (we’re) very pleased.’
The Aussie larrikin has turned a recent slump in form around, after failing to register a big score in Australia’s recent series against New Zealand and deliver against India.
Head had confused some fans with his bizarre celebration during the Boxing Day Test, in which he stuck his index finger in a circle created by his other fingers
After the Sydney Test he joked with fans on Instagram, by repeating the celebration with a pint of beer
He opened up on the mental and physical strain that a five-day Test can have on a player claiming that it was ‘nice to come out on the winning side’
His decision not to drink may also be a sign of his maturity.
He also revealed that there is not just a physical toll that is put on the players during a five-day Test of such intensity.
‘It’s been a crazy five Tests,’ Head said to Fox. ‘It puts a lot on us and the guys who got through all five are looking forward to a bit of time off because it’s been crazy.
‘The media has hyped it up in different directions, different narratives, which I don’t agree with some and I agree with some others.
‘It’s a bloody tough tour for them (India) and for us, and it’s nice to come out on the winning side of things and it’s going to be nice to enjoy over the next couple of days and reflect on it.’
Head copped backlash during the Boxing Day Test after he had appeared to make a circle with his hand and poke his index finger through it after dismissing Rishabh Pant.
While some blushed at the celebration there was a funny reason behind the gesture, with Head pretending to dip his red-hot bowling finger in a bucket of ice after dismissing the Indian batsman.
On Sunday night, he repeated the feat, but this time he published a snap of himself poking his finger into a glass of larger, captioning the photograph: ‘Ooppss’.
