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Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag hailed Australia's management decision to stick with Travis Head even though he was on the sidelines for the majority of the tournament due to injury.
Head sustained a fracture in his left hand a month before the World Cup during Australia's tour of South Africa. Head was bound to miss the opening half of the tournament but the Australian management decided to stick with him and named him in the 15-man squad. The decision repaid Australia as the left-handed batter scored a ton in the World Cup final against India at the Narendra Modi Stadium to guide the Baggy Greens to the record sixth title. Shewag congratulated Australia for their triumph and wrote on X, "Many Congratulations Australia on winning the World Cup. They were the best side on the day of the finals. Travis Head was simply unbelievable,was the POTM in WTC finals, won the semis for Aus and played one of the best ever innings in a WC Final and finished the game. Australia's decision to have him in the squad despite him missing the first half of the World Cup to injury was a top decision. We can hold our heads high for the effort our boys gave throughout the tournament, they gave us many moments of joy throughout the WC, but unfortunately weren't able to cross the line in the finals." https://x.com/virendersehwag/status/1726271177029734697?s=20 Along with the dynamic Indian opener, Australian skipper Pat Cummins praised the team management for making a "risky decision" by keeping Head in the team said as quoted from the ICC, "Travis Head was phenomenal. I think a lot of credit should also go to Andrew McDonald and George Bailey, the selectors, to take a punt. He had a broken finger, a broken hand, for half of the tournament, but to keep him in the squad was a huge risk. And the medical team were fantastic, obviously, to get him into a place where he could perform." Coming to the match, Australia opted to bowl first and bundled out India for 240 in 50 overs. On a tough batting surface, skipper Rohit Sharma (47 in 31 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes), Virat Kohli (54 in 63 balls, with four boundaries) and KL Rahul (66 in 107 balls, with one four) posted important knocks. Mitchell Starc (3/55) was the pick of the bowlers for Australia. Skipper Pat Cummins (2/34) and Josh Hazlewood (2/60) also bowled well. Adam Zampa and Glenn Maxwell got a wicket each. In the chase of 241, India had the Aussies down at 47/3. Knocks from Travis Head (137 in 120 balls, with 15 fours and four sixes) and Marnus Labuschagne (58 in 110 balls, with four boundaries) left the Indian team without answers and guided them to a six-wicket win. (ANI)
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