Travis Head has 345 runs in 9 ODIs against India.
Dinesh Karthik believes that Travis Head, not the team, has been the main cause of India's mental block throughout their knockout matches against Australia. His remarks were made before the March 4 first semi-final between India and Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
In the recent past, Head has been a pain in India's side, taking the game away from them all by himself. He achieved this by scoring incredible hundreds in the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup 2023 finals, and he carried on his excellent play at the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.
In an interview with Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain on the Sky Sports podcast, Karthik acknowledged that Head's wicket would be crucial for India. According to the former wicketkeeper, Australia is currently India's worst opponent in ICC competitions.
“It used to be New Zealand for a wee bit. In these knockout games, they always had the better of India, but you have to say it’s Australia at this point in time. If at all, there is a team that they would think that on most days they’ll challenge India has to be Australia. And it’s actually what Ravi Shastri said, you know, at this point of time, the mental block is more one player than Australia itself, Travis Headache," said Karthik on Sky Sports.
Head will be the difference between winning and losing, therefore taking his wicket early on will ease India's burden for the remainder of the match, Karthik continued.
“He has actually, in any format. And they will be looking for that wicket because that wicket early will actually make them breathe a lot easier for the rest of the game, because the World Test Championship Final, the recently concluded Australia Series, World Cup Final, you take any big game, he’s actually scored once. And he’s been the difference between winning and losing," said Karthik.
Head's dismissal, Karthik continued, won't mean the end of the match for India, but it will give them peace of mind for the remainder of it.
“Definitely, it’s not the end of the game, but I think they’ll breathe a lot easier because, till the time he’s around, especially the tempo that he’s batting, because they’ve tried tactically various fields, various lines, he just finds a way to get that boundary," said Karthik.
Karthik feels that India will end up playing 4 spinners during the match.
“I have a feeling they will end up playing four spinners, especially with the way Varun bowled and this pitch, more than anything else, it makes sense to play Varun and he is, again, a wicket-taking opportunity against a lot of the Australians,” said Karthik.
In 9 ODIs against India, Head scored 345 runs at an average of 43.13.