‘Finisher’ Bevan all praise for ‘beginner’ Head

CHENNAI: It was a case of the ‘finisher’ waxing lyrical about the ‘beginner’. Well, Travis Head has made heads turn with his explosive batting at the ongoing World Cup and among his growing list of admirers, he can count on one certain Michael Bevan, who earned a stellar reputation as the best ODI finisher of his era.

The term ‘beginner’ doesn’t imply that Head is at the beginning of his career but it’s more a pointer on how seamlessly he had made the transition to opening the innings in alien conditions having just recovered from an injury that forced him to miss his team’s first five matches of the World Cup. Be it his whirlwind innings of 109 against New Zealand in a high-scoring thriller, which his team won by five runs, or his equally enterprising 62 against South Africa on a two-paced track at Eden Gardens that went a long way towards his team eventually booking its place in a record eighth World Cup final, Head and his association with fellow left-handed opener David Warner at the top has brought back memories of another famous Australian all-left combination of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist.

And Bevan, who is in the city for the upcoming Legends League Cricket where he is the coach of Southern Super Stars, underlined the value Head’s presence lends to Australia’s top order.

“Head has always been a real favourite of mine. And the reason why he’s been a favourite is because he predominantly came through as a T20 player and a big hitter and a fast scorer. And he reverted to that lately in Test cricket, his more natural instinct. But there was a period where he really toughed it out in spells throughout Test cricket when the bowling was good. And so he had to actually change his game plan and become a different type of player in Test cricket to succeed. And so it’s been a very impressive transition. And as we saw yesterday (Thursday) against South Africa, he has the skills to take away matches in 50 over games,” observed the 53-year-old who was an integral part of Australia’s 1999 and 2003 World Cup-winning teams.

It looks like Head’s supreme batting form has rubbed off on his bowling too as he accounted for the crucial wickets of Heinrich Klaasen and Marco Jansen off successive deliveries to decisively swing the semi-final in his side’s favour. With him hardly putting a foot or a hand wrong, Head will once again look to take centre stage in the final against India on Sunday.

Earlier, speaking at the jersey launch of Southern Super Stars, Srinadh Chitoori, CEO, Southern Sports & Entertainment Pvt.Ltd, said, “We are fortunate to have this opportunity to be able to cheer legendary cricketers who have been icons. We are pleased to be part of the opportunity, and it is now our endeavour to continue providing cricket fans in India and around the world with our much-loved cricketers in an exciting format that fans will enjoy and cherish. It all comes together under the Legends League cricket with exciting and fierce competition.”