After the left-hander’s spectacular century on the first day of the ICC WTC Final in London, Australian legend Ricky Ponting is at ease comparing Travis Head to the current Adam Gilchrist in Australia’s XI. Head scored his first Test century in England and his sixth overall with a brilliant unbeaten 146* from just 156 deliveries on an action-packed day at The Oval.
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The first day of the World Test Championship Final 2023 was highlighted by an impressive 251-run unbroken partnership between Travis Head (146 not out) and Steve Smith (95 not out), which helped Australia conclude the day’s play with a solid 327 for three.
WTC Final: Ricky Ponting compares Travis Head to all-time great Adam Gilchrist#RickyPonting #TravisHead #WTCFinal2023 #WTC2023 #Sports #Cricket https://t.co/vGXvlSppWO
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The outspoken No. 5 stepped to the crease with his team in peril at 76/3, but he delivered a strike that reminded Ponting of his former comrade Gilchrist.
He most likely is (like Gilchrist). In fact, he is scoring more frequently now than Gilly likely ever did. He has the highest strike rate of everyone in the world who has hit more than 500 runs during this World Test Championship qualification season, at 81, according to Ponting, who spoke to the ICC.
He continued, “His last two years have been fairly exceptional, his confidence is building with the game, his strike rate continues going up, he smashes boundaries early in his innings which puts pressure back on the bowlers which is what you want from your middle order guys.
Gilchrist scored at a similar rate during Australia’s World Test Championship campaign, while Head is on a similar track after having a strike rate of 81.95 during his stellar Test career.
Head showed similar tendencies to Gilchrist, who was notorious for attacking as soon as he got to the crease, as he pounded the India attack to every corner of the legendary south London stadium on Wednesday.
After India’s quicks gave the game a good start thanks to their quick bowlers, Head quickly shifted the tide in Australia’s favour by being harsh on anything over-pitched early in his knock and dealing mostly in boundaries.
