Former Australian captain and legendary batter Ricky Ponting feels left-handed batter Travis Head is on the way to becoming one of the greats of the game. The South Australian cricketer who made his international debut for Australia on January 26, 2016, during a T20I match against India in Adelaide, has played 51 Tests, 69 ODIs, and 38 T20Is so far. The left-handed batter has been in red-hot form these days, and in the first two Tests of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia, he has scored 11, 89, and 140 runs.
Impressed by Head’s performance for Australia in the last couple of years, Ponting, while speaking in the latest episode of ICC Review, praised him and said, “He’s on the way to being one of those (greats).”
“I don’t think you can call him a great just yet. That’s no knock on what he’s doing because what he’s doing has been spectacular. And a lot of the times, it’s been when his team’s needed him the most,” he added.
In the last 18 months, Head has scored a century for Australia in the final of the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup against India and also played an impressive knock in the T20 World Cup 2024 Super Eight match against Rohit Sharma-led side.
“Think about the World Cup semi-final, the World Cup final, the World Test Championship, and the Ashes in Australia a couple of years ago. Big moments are when Travis has found a way to stand up,” Ponting said.
“The way that Head plays is in a very similar way to the way that Gilchrist played, albeit a couple of positions higher in the batting order. Gilly was a six or seven, and Travis is doing his damage at No. 5. I love sitting back and watching him play. It’s quite refreshing to watch guys play that way. It doesn’t matter what the situation is; Travis is going to come out and play the same way, and I love that,” he added.
