Head ready to repay Australia's faith
After injury forced him to watch his team in action in the World Cup from his couch at home in Adelaide, Travis Head has finally joined the Australia team in India and is counting down the days before he can repay the faith shown by the team management.
Head was an important part of Australia's plans heading into the World Cup but his participation in the tournament got jeopardised when he fractured his left hand during Australia's South Africa tour in September.
The Australian selectors still kept him in the 15-man squad for the World Cup and sent him home to recover and join the team later in the tournament.
Head, who is now with the Australian squad in New Delhi, was grateful to the selectors for giving him a chance to recover and is eagerly waiting for an opportunity to repay their faith.
"When it first happened [the injury] I thought my chances were done," Head was quoted as saying by the Australian newspaper The Sydney Morning Herald.
"But as those three or four days played out, and [I got] back to Sydney and [saw the] specialist, there was definitely light at the end of the tunnel. It was nice to have the confidence to hold me. A lot had to go right," he added.
The right-hander had his first net session in India at the Arun Jaitley Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The batter revealed that although he is feeling much better, he is still experiencing pain while batting.
"I had a really good hit yesterday [Saturday]. I think each session is getting better but [I've] got to be mindful… Everything seems to be going well. But it's how I wake up this morning. It's how I can potentially back up tomorrow and train and there's still a few things I need to tick off," said the 29-year-old.
"You can deal with it [pain] as long as I'm not doing any damage to it, and I've got the confidence to know that I'm not doing damage to it. A little bit of pain is ok," he added.
Australia's next match in the World Cup is against the Netherlands in Delhi on Wednesday.
Although Head is optimistic about playing that match, Australia chief selector George Bailey wants to exercise caution.
"Clearly the whole point of having him and carrying him to this point is not to risk it by bringing him back early. If it works out that it's the Dutch game, great. If it's a little bit further on, then that's okay," said Bailey.
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