WTC Final: Travis Head slams century with bat gifted by Babar Azam

Australia southpaw Travis Head plundered a magnificent century against team India in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final at The Oval in London. However, one clip involving Head and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam is making rounds on social media, which has sent fans into frenzy.

In the clip, Babar can be seen gifting one of his bats to Head during the 2021-22 tour of Pakistan. After the clip went viral, numerous fans were of the opinion that it was the same bat that the Aussie batter used against team India in the WTC final, gifted by Babar.

Speaking about the match, Pat Cummins-led Australia were left in a precarious state after the early dismissals of David Warner, Usman Khawaja, and Marnus Labuschagne for 76 runs. However, Head, who joined Steve Smith out in the middle, combined to raise a stellar 285-run partnership to revive the innings for the Aussies. 

The southpaw played out a rather aggressive innings as he cracked 25 boundaries and one maximum in his 174-ball 163, at a strike rate of 93.67. On the other hand, Smith further aided the Australian innings as he got 19 boundaries in his 268-ball 121. Smith also attained an impressive feat as he recorded his ninth century against India, the joint second-most tons by a player between the two rival sides. 

The Aussies remained in the driver’s seat as they attained a humongous first innings total of 469 runs on Day 2. Meanwhile, Mohammed Siraj returned a four-wicket haul in his 28.3 overs for 108 runs at an economy of 3.78, whereas Shardul Thakur and Mohammed Shami got two wickets apiece.

During the second innings, the Aussies extended their domination as the bowling attack operated in tandem to land the early blows. India were left reeling as skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli departed for paltry scores of 15, 13, 14, and 14 runs, respectively. 

Down the order, Ravindra Jadeja played a breezy knock of 48 off 51 balls which included seven fours and one six before Nathan Lyon sent him packing. With five wickets down, team India will need to put up a solid performance on Day 3 in order to get the derailed side back on track.