'He is similar to Gilchrist, scoring quicker than Gilly probably ever did': Ricky Ponting

Australian batsman Travis Head and Steve Smith dominated the Day 1 of the ICC World Test Championship Final 2023 and have together put up an unbeaten stand of 251 runs off 370 balls. Head was the main highlight of the Day 1 of the WTC Final vs India as he is already batting on 146 and will want to reach his double hundred on Day 2. The left-hander scored runs very quickly and also reached his ton in just 106 balls. Now former Aussie batsman Ricky Ponting has compared the left-handed batter to former Aussie great Adam Gilchrist. 

'He is probably scoring quicker now than...': Ricky Ponting 

Adam Gilchrist in the 86 Tests he played made runs at an average of 81.95. In his whole career, he made 5570 runs and his highest score was 206*. Lauding Travis Head, Ricky Ponting said to ICC, "He probably is (similar to Gilchrist). In fact he is probably scoring quicker now than Gilly probably ever did. His strike-rate through this (World Test Championship) qualification period is 81, which is higher than anyone else in the world to have scored more than 500 runs." 

READ: WTC Final, IND vs AUS live score

"His confidence is growing by the game, his strike-rate keeps going up, he hits boundaries early on in his innings which puts pressure back on the bowlers which is what you want from your middle order players, and his last two years have been quite remarkable", Ricky Ponting added. 

Travis Head's love affair with Team India 

Travis Head also scored runs against Team India when he came for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in February this year. After being promoted to open, Head scored a total of 245 runs at an average of 45 in the three Tests he played. 

READ: WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar slams Rohit Sharma for benching R Ashwin; 'They missed a trick'

Apart from scoring a hundred against India in the WTC Final, Travis Head also set up a unique record. Head became the first batter to score a hundred in the biggest event of the Test format.

Team India eye comeback 

Team India will also eye a comeback on Day 2 with the bat and would want to restrict Australia as quickly as possible. The India team has got a quality batting lineup including inform Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Cheteshwar Pujara. Rohit Sharma will also look to lead from the front by scoring runs with the bat.