The summer of Travis Head

For the longest time, you got the feeling that Travis Head always batted like he was on borrowed time. Like he was always in a hurry to prove a point. Like he was always in a rush to make his mark. No wonder, we thought, he comes out flashing and taking the attack to the opposition. No wonder, we assumed, he ends up producing several rapid cameos without consistently producing the big scores. No wonder, we agreed with or could at least fathom the call, whenever the selectors left him out of the side, either at home or especially on the road.

Perhaps we were wrong all along. Maybe it was Australian cricket that was in a hurry. It was Australian cricket that was in a rush for Travis Head to make the kind of mark that it believed he was destined to after identifying him as a prodigy over a decade ago. It was Australian cricket that felt like it was on borrowed time in terms of helping Travis Head fulfil his true potential. Not realising that it was only a matter of time before he did so himself. That all they needed to be with him was patient.

And when you look at Head and his fascinating Test career to date through those lenses, you realise that we may not have understood the brilliance of the South Australian left-hander the way it deserves to be. The 29-year-old has always had a reputation of being an attacking player with the ability to hit a lot of boundaries all around the ground. But his penchant to look for runs has always been construed as some uncontrollable urge to go looking for scoring opportunities even where there are none.

What he's shown in the last 18 or so months, and especially while scoring his first away Test century at The Oval in the WTC final, is that maybe what we always perceived to be a very risky style of batting was after all anything but. For, if anything, Head doesn't bat like someone who thinks he's taking risks. It's all about instinct and impulse with the South Australian captain. And the fact that he backs his skills and his decision-making at the crease to such a level that he can come across as being audacious to the naked eye is what makes him the destructive batter that he's turning out to be for his country. It's also probably the reason why he has started getting significant scores but also has started making match-turning contributions when the chips are down.

When Head walked in to bat at the Oval on Wednesday (June 7), the game wasn't quite slipping away from Australia. But it was beginning to slide towards India. They'd lost their well-set batters, David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne, on either side of the lunch-break, in the space of two-and-a-half overs. Mohammed Shami and Mohammad Siraj, who'd started the day in impressive fashion with the new-ball, were back in full rhythm to kick-off the second session. India's decision to bowl first on the overcast morning was finally proving to be a good one, with Steve Smith only getting his eye in at the other end.

Then, like he has done so often in recent months, Head turned the game on its head. And like is the case with these script-turning knocks that he's started producing regularly, there was no daredevilry involved with what he did.

Six of the first 16 deliveries he faced on the day were despatched to the boundary. Not one of them was a shot that seemed out of place. When the Indians erred on his pads, he picked them away in that wristy fashion through the on-side. When they gave him even a semblance of width, he scythed them away, like is his wont.

Without really overdoing the aggression, Head had managed to get the Indians to push their field back and completely take the focus away from the rather good plans India were operating with for Smith at the other end. Then came a brief period where Head was prepared to see off the challenge of a charged-up Siraj. It was the latest sign of how Head has added a manual gear to his otherwise automatic approach to batting.

The keenness to power up his shield and ward off the bowlers when they have things in their favour, like he did briefly in Brisbane against South Africa and even against India in that famous run-chase in Indore. Not that it ever takes more than 3-4 deliveries for him to get back to that positive methodology.

His progress from 50 to 100 was also reflective of just how much his range of strokeplay has grown since the tours of the subcontinent last year. While he's always been strong on the cut and the flick, Head now also seems comfortable driving deliveries which are pitched on a length and angling away from him, leaving the fast bowlers with an even smaller margin for error. Such was the matter-of-fact nature of his high scoring rate that it didn't come across as a counterattack.

This was Travis Head trusting Travis Head to be the best Travis Head he's aware of. It also allowed Smith at the other end to book himself in on this Oval pitch for a long haul, not just for this Test but for the 5 crucial ones to follow. Head continued on after crossing three-figures, doing what he does a lot of in Sheffield Shield cricket, but has begun doing at the highest level too. He stayed hungry for more, and pushed on even till the end of the day's play, striking Siraj for a handful of boundaries to take Australia further into the ascendency.

It's this ability to break games without seemingly trying very hard to do so that has always been a reputation Head has carried with him. It only seems to have been enhanced to a greater extent than before in this ultimate Test. And you'd expect it to be a recurring theme as we head towards the Ashes. For, Head is proving a point, Head is making his mark, and he's doing so at this own pace. Australia's wait for him to be the game-changer is over. His time is now. This is the summer of Head.