Champions Trophy 2025: Dinesh Karthik says Travis Head’s early wicket would make India breathe a lot easier for the rest of the game

Former Indian wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik believes Travis Head will be a huge wicket for India in the Champions Trophy semifinal against Australia on Tuesday. Karthik said Travis Head has been a mental block for India and it would be crucial for the Men in Blue to get rid of him early.

Head has been a headache for the Indian team in the big matches. The southpaw scored a scintillating century in the World Test Championship final against India in 2023. Subsequently, he scored another hundred in the ODI World Cup 2023 final at Ahmedabad against Rohit Sharma’s team. Furthermore, Head top-scored with 448 runs in five Test matches in the Border-Gavaskar trophy against India at an average of 56 and a strike rate of 92.56.

“If at all, there is a team that they would think that on most days they’ll challenge India has to be Australia. And it’s actually what Ravi Shastri said, you know, at this point of time, the mental block is more one player than Australia itself, Travis Headache,” Karthik said on the Sky Sports podcast.

“He has actually, in any format. And they will be looking for that wicket because that wicket early will actually make them breathe a lot easier for the rest of the game, because World Test Championship Final, the recently concluded Australia Series, World Cup Final, you take any big game, he’s actually scored once. And he’s been the difference between winning and losing,” he added.

Karthik urged Indian bowlers to bowl outside the off-stump against Travis Head and be right on the money against the pugnacious southpaw.

“With Travis Head, it’s very obvious, you know, his strength could easily be his weakness, which is if you bowl outside the off stump and it swings a bit, he could definitely call, but also he doesn’t back away from slashing at it. Yeah, and it has swung here a little bit more than in Pakistan, it has, the new ball has, but you have to be spot on with him,” Karthik explained.

India will take on Australia in the first semifinal at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Tuesday.