IND vs AUS, T20 World Cup: Head’s troubles in focus as powerhouses meet in high stakes clash on back of contrasting outings

The ball would haunt Travis Head in his nightmares. The white sphere of leather arrowing into his middle stump, landing on good length, or slightly fuller, before seaming away, rerouting as though guided by a GPS just adequately to beat his feet-in-cement swipe. When Naveen-ul-Haq blasted his stumps with a similar ball, he might have only felt a sense of deja vu. Several faces would have flashed through his head—Jofra Archer (this World Cup), Mitchell Starc and Arshdeep Singh (IPL 2024) – from the last month alone.

Awareness of a flaw is one thing; executing is the more tedious bit, India’s seamers would know. In the last two major ICC games between the two sides, Head had single-handedly lopped off India’s ambitions. Centuries of outrageous derring-do in the World Test Championship and 50-over World Cup finals needn’t any reopening; they flinch as unhealed wounds in the mind of the nation. Now Australia would hope their maverick opener would perform a triple-peat, just as India’s bowlers would sniff an overdue revenge.

India possess a pair of seamers skilled with both knowledge and power of execution, riding an irrepressible wattage of form, to bait their moustachioed nemesis in recent finals, when they duel in Gros Islet, in a Super 8 group game with the consequence of a knockout.

The Bumrah-Arshdeep duet has been a music of doom for batsmen this tournament. A combined haul of 22 wickets, of them several unplayable ones, conceding an average of 5.28 runs per over, breathing hostility and high-spec skills, with wisdom and mastery of coaxing the best out of surfaces, has headlined India’s march of a six-match unbeaten streak. Both can readily deliver the ball that troubles Head, in different angles.

Bumrah releases the ball wide of the crease, like a boxer’s upper cut appearing from nowhere. It curls into him, drawing his eyes into him, opening up his body in the process, and squaring him up. Arshdeep’s away-swinger is subtler, stings more no less, like a jab. The ball travels almost in line with the umpire, semi-opens his body, and induces his hands into stabbing at it. His vulnerability to the away-swinger stems from his insignificant front-foot stride, his tendency to stay leg-side of the ball, further complicated when he opens up his stance, often by clearing the front-leg.

The mouth-watering opening exchange sets up an intriguing match that was not designed this way. Had Afghanistan not upstaged Australia, the game would have been piped up as a trial for the finals, a shadow boxing before another grandstand game. But the defeat has slashed open the group and injected a Hitchcockian suspense to a game that both teams ought to win. India could make do with a point, in case it rains in Gros Islet. But Australia need to win, and do so with a handsome margin so that they could progress even if Afghanistan topple Bangladesh. The latter too is suddenly in the fray, should a string of results favour them.

KNOCKED HIM OVER! 😮‍💨

A dream delivery by #NaveenulHaq and #TravisHead is bowled! 🔥

𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝟖 👉 #AFGvAUS | LIVE NOW | #T20WorldCupOnStar (available only in India) pic.twitter.com/u6tUW6dGBL

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 23, 2024

India peaking

In this backdrop of the Sunday mayhem, India would walk into the picturesque Daren Sammy Stadium as the calmer side. They have reached a day earlier, bossing their adversaries and peaking insidiously as the tournament has rolled along. With every passing game, India have looked unbreakable, fixing every troubleshoot on the go. The openers, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, hit their straps against Bangladesh; installing Rishabh Pant at No 3 has been a masterstroke; Hardik Pandya has dusted off his IPL dust and begun to influence games as a genuine all-rounder would, with the bat and ball. Seamers have terrorised batsmen every game, and the spin trio has settled into rhythm too. It’s a travesty if they are not addressed as the red-hot favourites to hoist the trophy. On Monday, too, the odds would heavily favour them, despite the format’s fickleness.

In contrast, Australia have been slipping from one weakness to another with every passing game. They have less than 36 hours to soak the shock of the Afghanistan defeat and muster the wits to compete against the most competent side of the tournament. The middle order has been as brittle as the colourful shacks in the Caribbean islands during a cyclone. Tim David and Matthew Wade have collected only 72 runs between them; captain Mitchell Marsh has eked out only 88 runs in six outings. Openers David Warner and Head (their top two run-getters), blasters Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell have shouldered much of their batting burden. Surges of inspiration have been rare and collective performances rarer.

On a similar vein, bowlers have struggled to put on a concerted show. Pat Cummins’s hat-tricks in successive games have masked the frugal returns of Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood (three wickets each, economy rates of 7.88 and 6.55, respectively). Part-timers Glenn Maxwell and Stoinis have often chimed in with wickets, but Cummins and Adam Zampa have often felt isolated. Sloppy fielding and catching have confounded the audience as much as the adversaries. The usual spark has gone AWOL.

But for all their failings, Rohit Sharma and Co would not be conceited in believing that they could just turn up and send them packing home. Rather, they are all too familiar with the steel and defiance of Australians, the match-winners in the midst, and of course Head. Despite his flaws (and many others), he has prospered, which should warn forewarn India’s seamers. They could relive his away-seamer nightmare, just as Head could make India rekindle their own old nightmares too. This sets up a suspenseful contest, unexpected though it was. Thanks largely to Afghanistan.

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