Former Australian wicketkeeper batter Adam Gilchrist stated that he sees a bit of himself in the current Australia ODI opener, Travis Head, who is known for playing aggressive cricket.
Head was included in Australia's World Cup squad despite being injured and the 29-year-old marked his return in style against New Zealand in Dharamshala on October 28, scoring 109 off 67 runs in one of the blistering knocks of this tournament.
He is also the only opener in cricket history to score more than 1000 runs while averaging over 50 and striking at over 110, a testament of his impeccable hitting skills.
The legendary Gilchrist couldn't help but admit that Head's merciless hitting somewhat reminded him of his time.
"In some ways. Obviously, he's playing very aggressively and that was my role," Gilchrist told ESPNcricinfo.
"There are some shots he hits, where if I watch footage or myself, even when I was playing, it didn't look like how it felt," Gilchrist said. "When it was happening, it felt like a beautiful looking shot, but on replay it's actually just been bludgeoned and he's got that ability.
"He can lose what we term traditional shape of a shot, but because he's going so aggressively and he's got such power and great hand-eye coordination, he still gets the ball away.
"I really enjoy that part of his batting and watching it."
Head's return provided a new life to the Australian as during his injury, they were forced to play Mitchell Marsh as an opener, who usually plays in the lower middle-order. Gilchrist talked about the statement he gave with his return against the Black Caps and said that the left-handed batter is one of the biggest factors in Australia's title hopes.
"He clearly made an impact against New Zealand. He's one of a number of important factors for Australia's title hopes," Gilchrist said. "His style is something that if you're on board with it you have to ride the highs and the inevitable lows.
"He won't necessarily get the big score every time and have the consistency when you're that style of player. It's about making an impact and with that comes getting out early sometimes.
"But as long as everyone is riding that journey with him...they'll know that when he fires it's going to go a long way to helping Australia win."
- Travis Head
- Adam Gilchrist