Match-up theory in cricket, outlining a certain player's strength or vulnerability to a variety, either in bowling or batting, has helped redefine cricket in many ways. These are numbers teams have increasingly looked at to restructure their playing XI in a manner to gain edge over the opposition. But it can get tricky when used for an in-form player. (IND vs AUS Live Score, 4th Test Day 3)
Travis Head travelled to India as Australia's top-ranked batter in Tests after an impressive outing in South Africa and a stellar run in the last 12 months. Yet he was dropped from the opening Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against India in Nagpur earlier last month. Since his debut in the UAE, five years back, Head has averaged only 21.30 in the format in Asia, the third-lowest for an Aussie batter with minimum of 10 innings. His last nine innings in the subcontinent did not involve a single fifty while he is yet to score a ton outside Australia. The selectors decision was further backed by Head's show in the Pakistan and Sri Lanka tour last year where he was dismissed by spinners five times, with none of the scores more than 25.
The left-handed was eventually picked in the second Test after the humiliating Nagpur loss and Head made Australian selectors eat humble pie after two impressive second-innings knock, in New Delhi and Indore. He scored a fighting 43 in the second Test albeit in a losing cause and with Australia chasing a lowly total of 76 in the third match, Head showed his class with an unbeaten 49 off 53. He also scored 32 off 44 in Australia's colossal total of 480 in Ahmedabad.
{{/usCountry}}The left-handed was eventually picked in the second Test after the humiliating Nagpur loss and Head made Australian selectors eat humble pie after two impressive second-innings knock, in New Delhi and Indore. He scored a fighting 43 in the second Test albeit in a losing cause and with Australia chasing a lowly total of 76 in the third match, Head showed his class with an unbeaten 49 off 53. He also scored 32 off 44 in Australia's colossal total of 480 in Ahmedabad.
{{/usCountry}}Head's knock that played a pivotal role in Australia's turnaround in the series led to legends like Sunil Gavaskar and Matthew Hayden go nuclear at the Australian selectors.
“You scratch your head and think what on earth was he doing in the dressing room in the first Test,” Gavaskar said on Fox Cricket last week. “The man is in red hot form he’s had a brilliant Australian summer. Why would you want to cast your mind back to what’s happened earlier? Just go with current form.”
“You said something before that I just think was so spot on in terms of the assessment of selection right upfront in this tour – Australia did not play their best side,” Hayden added. Travis Head should have almost been number one picked in that team, apart from the captain.
But Dav Whatmore, who had mentored the 1996 Sri Lankan side to World Cup glory, thought otherwise as he rather backed the selectors.
Answering a query made by Hindustan Times during the Legends League Cricket in Doha, Whatmore said there was never a doubt that Head wouldn't play and although he credited his compatriot for turning things around.
“The stats coming in before the series wasn't kind to both of them, particularly Travis Head. And given the nature of the pitch and the decision made not to play him in the first Test match, I thought was the correct decision. Lots of other people thought it was otherwise. The way the pitch was prepared for left-handers that was just an unfortunate thing. There wasn't an iota of doubt. But credit to him, for turning things around,” Whatmore, who is coach of Asia Lions in the third edition of LLC, said.
Usman Khawaja has been a victim of match-up theory as well. Having carried the drinks in the last two Test series in India, owing to his susceptibility to spin and conditions in India, Khawaja was eventually given a go in the 2023 edition and he responded with a record knock of 180 in the fourth match.
Whatmore also spoke about the ongoing Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, “I haven't been looking at any visuals of the game but everything revolves around the surface (laughs), which is going to deteriorate then scoring runs will become little harder.”