Good news for Australian fans as Travis Head is set to be available for the Netherlands match on 25th October in Delhi. The left handed opener despite being injured during a one-day international against South Africa on September 15, was named in the 15-men squad for the ICC World Cup 2023 in India.
Travis had fractured his left thumb and since then he has been recovering at a pace that could make him aailable for the Australia vs Netherlands game in Delhi. As per Cricket.com.au, Travis's protective splint was removed from his hand last Friday and he has faced an increasing number of throw-downs at the nets to be fit again within the next week.
The five-time ICC World Cup winners, Australia have found it hard to get going in this year's tournament, losing both of their opening games against India and South Africa. Without their premier opener, Australia have found themselves in tangled situations with the bat in hand in India.
With the pace Travis is recovering, his return to India is scheduled to be on Firday, next week. Travis Head will catch a flight for India from Adelaide on Thursday. Even if everything goes per plan, he will not be available for their next game against Pakistan, on Friday. In that case, given he gets match fit, he will be available for the Netherlands game in Delhi.
"It's coming along well, and probably better than we hoped," Travis Head told Cricket.com.au.
"When we decided not to go with surgery, which would have meant a 10-week recovery, we were told it would be minimum six weeks with the splint before we could look at playing again.
"Going by that plan, the Netherlands game will be just under six weeks from impact which is a pretty aggressive date so everything would have to go perfectly from here to make that deadline," Travis went on to add.
"I wasn't even sure I'd be able to bat when the splint came off but, apart from a fair bit of stiffness given I hadn't been able to use it for the past four weeks, I was able to hit balls and play a fair range of shots."
Travis Head in an interview with Cricket.com.au
But, there is a catch to this news. If Australia loose their next match against Sri Lanka, on 16th October, the team management might not take risks with Travis. Since another defeat would mean there will be less chance for Australia to make it to top four, they would like to rest Tavis and get him ready for the Test Series in December against Pakistan.
