World Cup 2023: Warne's old prediction about Travis Head goes viral
Legendary Aussie spinner Shane Warne recognised the talent of this left-handed opening batsman in 2016 when the latter made his debut
Australian opener Travis Head’s scintillating knock of 137 runs helped the Kangaroos win their sixth ICC World Cup title at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday.
After missing the first few matches of the World Cup on account of an injury, Head returned to the team and virtually revived his team’s fortunes. He also top-scored with 62 off just 48 deliveries in the semifinal against South Africa. Head also became the fourth player to win the player of the match award in the semifinal and final of the same World Cup, the others being Mohinder Amarnath in 1983, Aravinda de Silva in 1996 and Shane Warne in 1999.
Legendary Aussie spinner Shane Warne had recognised the talent of this left-handed opening batsman way back in 2016, the same year when Head made his debut for Australia. An old tweet of Warne (December 6, 2016) resurfaced on social media platform X on Sunday night, in which he predicted, “I am a big fan of Travis Head as a cricketer, I believe he will be a future star for Australia in all forms of the game.” Warne’s old tweet has gone viral now after Head’s brilliant performance in the World Cup. “Must be smiling from the sky seeing Travis performance,” wrote a user. “Shane Warne must be proud of Travis Head right now,” wrote another.
Though Warne couldn’t see Head guiding the team to the World Cup title, Australian skipper Pat Cummins praised the team management for taking a “risky decision” by keeping Head in the team.
“Travis Head was phenomenal. I think a lot of credit should also go to Andrew McDonald and George Bailey, the selectors, to take a punt. He had a broken finger, and a broken hand, for half of the tournament, but to keep him in the squad was a huge risk. And the medical team were fantastic, obviously, to get him into a place where he could perform,” Cummins said at the post-match press conference.
“I was one of those guys with hearts fluttering, but Head takes the game on. I think the selectors backed him even when he had a broken hand. It was a big risk and it paid off. How fun is it to watch him?”
