How Travis Head's marriage stopped him from getting IPL contract in 2023 auction

Travis Head is likely to get a lucrative deal in IPL 2024 auction.

Travis Head, Australia’s ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 final match-winner, may have returned to Indian Premier League (IPL) earlier this year if not for his marriage, according to Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach Ricky Ponting.

Head was the player of the match in both the semi-finals and the finals for Australia in the recently concluded ICC Cricket World Cup. He made 137 runs in the finals, as Australia chased down the 241-run target set by India in Ahmedabad with ease with 6 wickets in hand. This made Australia six-time World Cup winners, the most in the history of ODI cricket.

The 29-year-old was always a promising young player in Australian circuit, but he appears to have matured in the last two years across all formats.

In relation to his upcoming IPL contract, the cricketer, who previously played for RCB in 2016 and 2017, has played 20 T20I matches for his country with 460 runs at a strike rate of 140.67 and is a useful part-time off-spinner.

“I rang Travis Head and told him I was going for him in the auction,” says Ricky Ponting

Ricky Ponting admitted to ‘Channel 7’ that he had called Travis Head before of IPL 2023 to assess his interest in playing for Delhi Capitals, whom he has backed for a lucrative IPL contract on commentary during the World Cup in India.

However, because the cricketer’s wedding coincided with the first half of the two-months annual T20 carnival, Ponting was unable to persuade Capitals to sign Head for the event, which took place in April and May.

“Travis has done everything right to make sure he gets a deal this year. He would have had a deal last year if it wasn’t for his wedding. His wedding got in the middle of it. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to pick him up in Delhi. I rang him and told him I was going for him in the auction, and he said, ‘Just to let you know, I’m getting married two weeks into the IPL’. He would have missed three weeks at the start of the tournament, which our owners weren’t willing to take that gamble on,” Ponting told Channel 7.

The IPL 2024 auction is slated for December 19 and will be held in Dubai.

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