Shane Warne’s eight-year old tweet in which he predicted Travis Head would become a ‘future star’ resurfaced after the Australian batsman played the innings of his life in Sunday’s World Cup final against India.
Australia arrived in Ahmedabad as underdogs, with the home side boasting a perfect record of 10 wins en route to the final, a monster crowd of over 110,000 roaring them on and familiar conditions.
But the 29-year-old took the starring role with a brilliant 137, making light work of India’s under-powered 240 all out, as a six-wicket win made his country six-time champions.
The flambouyant right-hander, already a mainstay of the team that one the World Test Championship and retained the Ashes earlier this summer, underlined his class with a breathtaking knock that sealed an historic victory.
Head’s winning hand would have come as no surprise to Warne, who passed away in March 2022, who always knew the Adelaide-born batsman was always destined for greatness.
‘I’m 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 tweeted back in 2014.
For Head, Sunday’s innings represented a fitting end to a tournament which started in contrasting fashion with Aussie opener nursing a broken hand which put his participation in jeopardy.
“Not in a million years did I think that would happen [being man of the match today and in the World Test Championship final]. What an amazing day. I’m just thrilled to be a part of it.
‘It is a lot better than being sat on the couch at home!’ said Head after scooping the man of the match award.
‘I’m very lucky that everything went well and I was able to get back and the support that the boys showed,
‘I didn’t think this would happen. I was nervous in the first 20 balls but Marnus [Labuschagne] batted brilliantly and it is great to bat with him. It was an amazing partnership.’
‘Trav does what he does. He’s really brave, he takes the game on, puts pressure on bowlers and to do it on the biggest stage showed huge character,’ added victorious skipper Pat Cummins.
‘It was amazing. We couldn’t be happier for Trav, he’s a legend and we love him… how fun is he to watch?
‘It’s also on the unheralded few, the selectors that backed him in even when he had a broken hand and the medical team to get him back out there. It was a big risk that we took and it paid off.’
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