Australian opener Travis Head is positive about his return to the field in the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup match against the Netherlands on Wednesday; however, the team management is cautious about not rushing him into the team as he is yet to have a full practice session after arriving in India only recently.
Australia, who got their campaign back on track with big wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan after two losses, will take on the Netherlands in their match on Wednesday. While the Netherlands sits in the seventh spot with one win and three losses and the Aussies are back in the top four, one cannot count out the Dutch side, which has shown some remarkable cricket on-field with both bat and ball. They even beat a top-class South African side in a shocker.
Head is now in India after missing out on the team’s first four matches due to a broken left hand that he suffered just five weeks ago during an ODI against South Africa. Despite his injury, Head was kept in the original 15-man squad. The chairman of selectors, George Bailey, even said yesterday that Head would be an automatic choice for opening on his return, despite Mitchell Marsh being in brilliant form.
Head revealed that he has had some nice “hits” in the nets since getting his hand out of the splint, starting off with tennis balls and then moving on to face the sidearm in the nets in Delhi. He is optimistic about playing for the Netherlands, but Saturday’s clash against New Zealand looks like a better date for his return.
“I had a really good hit yesterday,” Head said on Sunday in Delhi. “I think each session is getting better, but again, we have got to be mindful of the fact that I think it was five weeks [since the injury] a couple of days ago, and I sort of got told [around] that six-week mark.
