Love batting in Steve Smith’s shadow: Travis Head

Travis Head, an Australian hitter, enjoys playing under Steve Smith’s shadow because it inspires him to give his best effort.

Australia is in a strong position after day one of the World Test Championship final against India on Wednesday because to Head’s counterattacking 146 not out off 156 balls.

In an unbroken 251-run stand, he and Smith—who is five runs short of a century—shared the scoring.

“I’ve always stated that because of the attention Steve gets, I actually love batting with him. He is undoubtedly our finest player and one of the top players in the whole world, according to Head.

Going out to bat with him feels like you’re in the shadow of that, you can sort of stay under the radar and go about your business, he said. “He’s our best batter, he’s unbelievable in these conditions, and he receives so much attention from opposition in terms of plans and how difficult he is to bowl to.

Head scored his maiden century outside of Australia with 22 fours and the lone six of the game so far.

The southpaw attributed his successful run to his current mindset and the technical adjustments he made to his hitting following 2019.

“After losing the morning coin toss, I anticipated a difficult day. It’s wonderful to contribute and it’s excellent to start out well.

Regarding his strategy, he said, “I stated before the game that if balls are there to be scored off, I am going to score off it. There were difficult times, but if you hit the centre of the bat, the ball travels to the boundary quite rapidly here.

Technically, I have already changed those things, but everywhere. I believed I had to adjust to every circumstance. Since 2019, my game’s foundations have undoubtedly evolved significantly.