Travis Head had a great role in Australia beating India in the ODI Cricket World Cup final. The star opener scored 137 off 120 balls as Australia chased down a 241-run target against India in just 43 overs. The win gave Australia their sixth ODI Cricket World Cup title. Travis Head finished the tournament with 329 runs in six matches and contributed with the ball too. However, former Indian cricket team star Ajay Jadeja was not amused when a fan during a YouTube live asked him whether Travis Head was a replica of Virender Sehwag.
“Do you think Travis Head is a replica of Sehwag? Hand-eye coordination, has a strike-rate over 100 in tests, hits fours and sixes”, A fan asked Ajay Jadeja on a video on Sports Tak.
“What is his age? If this guy has seen Virender Sehwag then this is a ‘behuda sawaal’ (non-sensical question). there is no logic in comparing Virender Sehwag with Travis Head. One is a right-hander, and the other is a left-hander. Virender Sehwag is Virender Sehwag. He used to play/go for shots from the first ball. And did this guy see how Travis Head was batting in the first few overs in the final?” replied Ajay Jadeja .
Meanwhile, Ricky Ponting hailed Travis for his performance and told Sky Sports, “Travis is emerging as one of the three or four best all-format players in the world. His Test record is outstanding. He is unorthodox at times [in one-day cricket] and you wonder how he will get past the new ball, but he does and scores big runs.”
Australia skipper Pat Cummins sang praises of the explosive opener hailing his ability to out the pressure back on the opponents and said as quoted from ICC, “That was a big risk, I think we could have been made to look really silly if that didn’t pay off, but you’ve got to take those risks to win a tournament. And Trav, the player we’ve seen in Test cricket, he just epitomises everything I want out of a cricket team. He takes the game on, he plays with a smile, he just puts the pressure right back onto the opposition and he’s just great fun to be around. So, I couldn’t be happier for Trav.”
Coming to the match, India was bundled out on a score of 240 in 50 overs. On a tough batting surface, skipper Rohit Sharma (47 in 31 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), Virat Kohli (54 in 63 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (66 in 107 balls, with one four) posted important knocks.
Mitchell Starc (3/55) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Skipper Pat Cummins (2/34) and Josh Hazlewood (2/60) also bowled well. Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell got a wicket each.
While chasing 241, India had the Aussies down at 47/3. Knocks from Travis Head (137 in 120 balls, with 15 fours and four sixes) and Marnus Labuschagne (58 in 110 balls, with four boundaries) left the Indian team without answers and guided them to a six-wicket win.