Allan Border: Travis Head’s future as an Australian captain, plus other World Cup thoughts

Travis Head is receiving deserved plaudits for his performance against India, with cricketing legend ALLAN BORDER writing, the best is yet to come for the South Australian.

Pat Cummins’ “bowl first’’ call in the World Cup final was one of the bravest decisions I have seen from a cricket captain.

I must be honest, when I heard Pat say “we will bowl’’ I thought “oh no, Patrick, you have lost the plot, you blokes!’’

When Rohit Sharma was going hard early, I thought “what are we doing?’’

Talk about a gutsy move. When you win the toss and bowl you have to do a lot of things right.

Unlike the World Cup final in Lahore in 1996 when Australia was caught off guard by night dew, the side sensed the dew would even things up.

However, Cummins’ call was still extremely courageous because had India made 300 to 350 it might have taken the dew factor out of the game.

Pat Cummins (R) with Rohit Sharma before the toss. Picture: Sajjad Hussain/AFP

Runs on the board has been the formula for years for captains who win the toss in big games. Then bowl defensively and choke the opposition to death.

Times are changing. These days the side batting first faces a lot of heat because no one knows what is a good score any more. With shorter boundaries and big six hitting, no score seems safe.

Teams feel they need at least 300. It’s not like the old days when if you batted first at the MCG and scored 220, you would win 70 per cent of games.

Cummins’ call was incredibly brave and well thought out.

The bowlers and fielders were great. To restrict India to 240 was exceptional work because even a total of 280 might have made things easier for the Indian bowlers to settle and make it a different game.

I was so impressed by the way Cummins led from the front. There were times in this tournament when he struggled but on the big night he produced the goods.

A FUTURE HEAD MAN

Travis Head is a future Australian captain whose batting mindset reminds me of Ian Botham.

Any time I saw “Both” trying to play like a proper batsman, it just didn’t work.

When he started swinging from the cheap seats and balls started flowing over slips, I thought “oh no, here we go”.

I like the way Travis has worked out who he is as a player.

He’s had the courage to say: “I am not going to graft away like Marnus or Smithy and play the classical Test match innings … I will be a see-it, hit-it cricketer who plays on instinct. Every now and then I will look ugly but I will score my runs really quickly.’’

For a while, Head tried to be the perfect technician and it just wasn’t him. He’s like Brendon McCullum. He was born to get on with it.

With Head, you just have to be prepared to accept the odd day when it looks terrible but if you let Travis be Travis the rich rewards are there for all to see.

From the first time I met him I felt he had a captaincy feel about him.

Cummins and Head were born in the same year so, if Pat continues to grow in the role, Head’s path to the captaincy is not routine. But, being a bowling captain, I feel there will be times when Pat is resting Travis will captain the side.

BEHIND THE SCENES

I must give a shout-out to our cerebral coaching staff for the exceptional way the Australians played the conditions in Ahmedabad.

Just seeing shots of Andrew Flower and Dan Vettori in the background with head coach Andrew McDonald, who is also supported by Michael DiVenuto, was to appreciate that there are some wise, hugely experienced heads helping this team adjust to challenging conditions.

Head coach Andrew McDonald (C) has assembled a crack team around him. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

They do their homework and it came off in spades. Had this been an Australian team without those guys around it might have done the routine thing and batted first then thought “where did this dew come from’’.

I still feel we have too many support staff but the ones we have are excellent.

MARNUS MAGIC

Just as Australia benefited from see-it, hit-it players such as Travis Head, so did the side benefit greatly from the ballast added by Marnus Labuschagne.

In World Cups in difficult conditions you need guys with solid techniques who can get through tough hours and give you a chance.

You cannot always make 300. Marnus is gold. He’s energetic in the field. Always up. You need players like him.

Originally published as Allan Border: Travis Head’s future as an Australian captain, plus other World Cup thoughts