Australia opener Travis Head, whose knocks in the semi-final and final of ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 were instrumental in the Aussies winning a record-extending sixth title, will enter his name in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction, as per a Sportstar report. Head had gone unsold at the IPL 2023 auction. (Cricket News | 2023 ODI World Cup)
The IPL 2024 auction will be held in Dubai on December 19, and IPL franchises have until November 26 to submit their lists of retained and released players, after which the final auction pool will be finalised. With the upcoming IPL 2024 to be followed by the T20 World Cup in the USA and the West Indies, many renowned foreign players are likely to sign up for the mega cricket league's auction.
Head had smashed a superb 137 from just 120 balls in the 2023 ODI World Cup final against India. He had struck a pivotal 62 and bagged two wickets in the semi-final against South Africa before that, and was adjudged Player Of The Match in both the knockout games for his efforts. He became the fourth player in Cricket World Cup history to achieve this feat, after Mohinder Amarnath's famous display in 1983, Aravinda de Silva in 1996 and Shane Warne in 1999.
The 29-year-old Head had missed Australia's first five games in the 2023 World Cup due to a fracture in his left hand, but came back spectacularly. Before breaking millions of Indian hearts with his batting in the tournament's final, Head had struck a match-winning 163 in the World Test Championship final too, at The Oval in June. He had similarly dashed Indian hopes then as well.
Head has earlier played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 2016 and 2017 IPL editions, and was part of the Delhi Capitals (then known as Delhi Daredevils) camp in 2015 - though he didn't get to play a single game for them. Head scored 205 runs in 10 matches at a strike-rate of 138.51 for RCB. The Australian, who is also a handy off-spinner, has scored 2,400 runs at a strike-rate of 132.81 over 104 T20 matches.
Apart from Head, his Australia teammate Mitchell Starc will also feature in the IPL 2024 auction. Starc has 34 wickets from 27 games in IPL at an average of 20.38 and an economy of 7.17.
