New Delhi [India], January 11 : The start of 2020. Virat Kohli was an undisputed champion across all formats with a Bradman-esque prime. Australia's Steve Smith seemed to hit another peak after a 774-run Ashes tour to UK in 2019, the same year when Joe Root finally had a Cricket World Cup sitting pretty next to him. NZ's Kane Williamson was also silently making run-scoring look like a work of art.
Back in 2020, an Adelaide boy, Travis Head, had been facing years being tossed in-and-out of side, with the white-ball side stacked with absolute titans and the red-ball team having nearly all bases covered. Now with the 'Fab Four' earmarked for excellence back in 2014 by Martin Crowe fading away format-by-format, the cricketing world has found its box-office attraction in this southpaw, sporting a loud moustache, sunglasses and a Baggy Green as the lead act of: TravBall, running strongly this decade.
Travis's current run as this decade's all-format superstar has not come easy. Early on in his career, he was tried out both as an opener and middle-order batter in white-ball cricket and in middle-order primarily in Tests, with players like David Warner, Aaron Finch Usman Khawaja and Shaun Marsh being vital part of Australian set-up and names like Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Marsh, Hilton Cartwright, Marcus Harris, Joe Burns etc also getting their share of opportunities.
Also, Travis was not as adept at playing quality fast bowling, averaging in the low 30s across all formats combined from 2016-19.
From 2016-19, Head featured in 74 international matches, scoring 2,673 runs in 81 innings at a decent average of 36.12, with three centuries and 12 fifties and best score of 161. While he did score two Test centuries each against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, they came in familiar home conditions. The South Australian was not truly living upto his promise.
Also, he did not leave much impact against India and England in his first series against two of Australia's biggest rivals, managing just three fifties across eight Tests, 15 innings while he scored 428 runs at an average of just 30.57 combined in these Tests, with the eight Tests split equally in home and away.
But from 2020 onwards, a switch flipped in Travis's system, transforming him from a batter fighting for his own place to putting the entire world of cricket in a chokehold. Teams, particularly India and England did not like it, but they watched and perhaps, secretly admired the 'TravBall'. Head, who had once admitted of being "scared sh*tless" of touring Indian pacers in 'The Test' documentary, went on to become his side's best bet against top-quality bowling.
-Better numbers against pace: As the decade changed and the world made it halfway through 2020s, Travis's game against pace changed for better, to 38.7 from 35-odd in Tests. His strike rate went from a timid 43.2 to an audacious 80.4. The bat in his hand was no longer a cricket bat, but rather a fly-swatter that he used to bludgeon and beat up a scary red cherry like a housefly which simply could not affect Travis with its tricks.
In ODIs, the leap was even more enormous. He went from averaging 33 and striking at 102.7 to amassing at least 75.6 runs per innings at a strike rate of 136.7, the numbers even a T20I specialist would dream of having.
In T20Is, his average went down from 27.5 to 26 and strike rate regressed from 183.3 to 168.5. But these numbers were a product of: High-risk, high-reward nature of the format and Head, now a senior, learning to rein in and refine his natural game to an extent that he could attack while still making sure his wicket was a prize to earn, not easily thrown.
-The English tormentor holding the Ashes hostage: Historically, the Ashes series has lived upto its name. While it has created legends, it has also been a graveyard where the remains of several legendary/promising/flopped cricketing careers lie. Travis could well have joined this unfortunate club of cricketers after a mediocre 2019 tour to UK, but was backed enough by the system.
The 2020/21 home Ashes marked the starting point of 'era of Travis'. An 85-ball ton at Brisbane, set the tone for a 4-0 series win at home. Travis celebrated this third Test ton by letting out a roar, displaying his David Boon-like moustache to the world. Head took home the prestigious 'Compton-Miller' medal for 'Player of the Series', top-scoring in the series with 357 runs in six innings, including two tons and a fifty. His second tour to UK, which ended in a gripping 2-2 draw, saw him emerge team's second-best run-getter with 362 runs at an average of 36.20, with three fifties in 10 innings. Keep in mind that it was also Steve Smith's worst away Ashes, with his 110 at Lord's carrying his tally of 373 runs on its shoulders.
However, the 2025/26 Ashes saw Head at his most imperious, ending the series with 629 runs in 10 innings at an average of 62.90, with three centuries and a strike rate of 87.36. It was for the first time that a batter had hit 500-plus runs in an Ashes series with a strike rate of 75 or more. His 69-ball ton at Perth chased down 205 runs on the second day, the 2nd fastest Ashes ton set the tone for 'Bazball's demise. A brisk 219-ball 170 sealed the Ashes for Australia, extending England wait for a triumph Down Under while his 166-ball 163 buried England's three-year project of curated by skipper Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, with his bat and helmet resting on its handle serving as a tombstone for England's much-dissected, scrutinised and debated style of cricket. The left-hander showed that 'Bazballing' was an effective tool no doubt, just he and the Aussies used it better. He outbatted England, striking way harder than its entire fleet of frontline batters.
-The Indian love-affair: During his formative years, India had managed to contain Travis, as he averaged a shade below 30 against them, with just two fifties in 16 innings and a strike rate of above 56.
But since the 2020s, the left-handers' often-joked about affinity for players wearing blue colours also extends to India. Since the turn of the decade, Head has scored 1,460 runs in 26 matches and 34 innings against India at an average of 47.09 and a strike rate of above 91, with four centuries and fifties each.
During this decade, Head had hit India where it hurt them the most, be it with title-sealing centuries in World Test Championship final and ICC Cricket World Cup final in 2023, the latter being an 'out of syllabus' jumpscare for Team India after a 10-match run of dominance, jubilation and records.
He also played a crucial role in denying India a hat-trick of series wins in Australia in 2024-25, top-scoring with 448 runs, including two massive centuries at Brisbane and Adelaide and a half-century. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy was back on Australian shores after a decade in early 2025, thanks to these timely clutch knocks.
Play a video of Travis batting against India with The Local Train's famous track 'Choo Lo' playing in the background? The batter has spit back all past trauma with interest to make a 'cry session' or 'smash/throw your phone' two extremely worthy and cathartic options for emotionally-invested Indian fans.
-The prize-fighter: Travis is not the most consistent batter, but saves his best when the prize is big and stakes are high. With his counter-attacking centuries, he has sealed for Australia a Test championship, a 50-over title. Very likely, he gets a T20 World Cup added to his collection this decade with his contributions at the forefront.
With three 'Player of the Match' in ICC events knockout matches, he is up there with Indian icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, compatriot Shane Watson, Sri Lanka's Aravinda de Silva and South Africa's Jacques Kallis. Two of these awards have come in the final. One more award would take him past all these legends, sealing his legacy as one of the modern era's best match-winners. With two T20 WCs, a World Cup and a Champions Trophy still to come, Travis has plenty of time to collect more individual ICC honours.
Largely due to his exploits against England and India, Travis has won 11 'Player of the Matches' in just 65 Tests, averaging one award per 5.9 Tests and this rate is much better than bonafide Test icons like Jacques Kallis (23 in 166 Tests), Muttiah Muralitharan (19 in 133 Tests), Shane Warne (17 in 145 Tests), Sachin Tendulkar (14 in 200 Tests), Steve Smith (13 in 123 Tests), Joe Root (13 in 163 Tests), Brian Lara (12 in 131 Tests), Viv Richards (10 in 121 Tests) and Virat Kohli (10 in 123 Tests). Travis is a serial match-winner in Tests, with three of these POTMs against India and two against England.
-Competing up with 'Fab Four': In his early 30s now, he is competing with Root, Smith, Virat and Williamson as they slowly walk away from the sport, with Root and Smith not having playing T20Is since a long time, Virat having retired from Tests and T20Is, Smith having retired from ODIs and Williamson having retired from T20Is.
Since 2020 till August 10 this year, he has made 6,123 runs in 117 matches and 151 innings at an average of 43.42, with a strike rate of 95.62, 16 centuries and 25 fiffies and best score of 175. With these numbers, he is enjoying a healthy competition with Virat (6,531 runs in 155 matches at an average of 41.59, with 14 tons), Smith (6,106 runs in 134 matches at an average of 42.69 with 15 tons), Williamson (5,276 runs in 92 matches at an average of 53.29 with 14 centuries). Only Joe Root has stayed way ahead with 8,058 runs in 117 matches at an average of 51 with 27 tons, but most of his runs and centuries have come in Tests.
While Root has been unlucky this decade and has not won an ICC Trophy, Smith has won three (T20 WC 2021, WTC 2023 and WC 2023), Virat has two (T20 WC 2024 and CT 2025) and Williamson has one (WTC 2021). Head, with a WTC and World Cup title to his name, sits level with Virat and could level/outdo Smith really soon in terms of ICC titles this decade. His knack for impactful innings during high-pressure situations only makes his numbers impressive.
As 2026 starts, can Travis continue with his form and take the ICC 'Player of the Decade' honours when 2020s end?