![Travis Head has been in dismal form recently [Source: @shaibal_27/x.com]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1759323992803_TravisHeadformanddownfall.jpg?type=hq)
Travis Head has been in dismal form recently [Source: @shaibal_27/x.com]
Australian opener, Travis Head was smashing records and bowling attacks for fun in 2024. Every time he walked out, you knew fireworks were around the corner.
However, in the ongoing year (2025), it feels like the magic has gone missing. He still gets those quick starts but they fizzle out quicker than a damp firecracker. The sixes that once flew into the stands have suddenly dried up and instead of being the guy who tilted matches in a matter of overs, he now looks like a batter searching for rhythm.
Analysing Travis Head's T20 downfall from 2024 to 2025
It has been a tale of wasted starts, mistimed swings and bowlers who seem to have figured him out. During the 1st NZ vs AUS T20I in Bay Oval on Wednesday, the story repeated itself.
Travis Head looked in cruise mode as he smashed 31 off 18 balls. Boundaries flowed, the bat swing was clean and the Aussies looked set for a flying start. Then came the miscued pull that was caught at mid-wicket.
Another start thrown away, another innings cut short. It has been a pattern that has followed him all year. For someone who tore records apart in 2024, the drop-off in 2025 has been nothing short of dramatic. Let’s analyze Travis Head’s T20 form in 2025.
The brutal numbers
Head’s 2024 T20I campaign was the stuff of fireworks.
- 2024 T20Is: 15 matches, 539 runs, average 38.50, strike rate 178.47, 4 fifties, 33 sixes.
- 2025 T20Is: 4 matches, 57 runs, average 14.25, strike rate 111.76, no fifties, no sixes.
The South Africa series just before New Zealand exposed the cracks even more: 26 runs in 3 innings at a strike rate under 80. Compare that to last year when bowlers feared his powerplay hitting, and it is chalk and cheese.
Boundary pattern tells the tale
The difference lies in the boundaries. In 2024, Head’s six-hitting made him unplayable. Over 30% of his deliveries faced ended in fours or sixes with sixes flying at nearly 11 per 100 balls. In 2025, the six-hitting has vanished. Ten fours in 51 deliveries, zero sixes. The same drop is seen in the IPL numbers:
- IPL 2024 (SRH): 567 runs at 191.55 strike rate, 32 sixes.
- IPL 2025 (SRH): 374 runs at 162.60 strike rate, just 15 sixes.
It is not that he has stopped finding gaps; he still hits fours. But the long-ball, which made him a match-breaker, has deserted him.
Dismissals tell a bigger story
The issue isn’t only the type of dismissal but when it happens. In 2024, he averaged 21 balls per innings before getting out, enough time to unleash one monster over that tilted the game.
In 2025, he is falling inside 13 balls on average. Starts are being wasted and the killer punch never arrives. That wicket vs New Zealand was the perfect snapshot: flashy, fast and then gone before it mattered.
How bowlers have tied him down
Teams have worked him out. The new blueprint looks simple on paper, brutal in execution:
- Pace-off deliveries in the powerplay, forcing him to overhit.
- Hard length into the ribs with square leg, mid-wicket and long-on in position.
- Wide line cutters, making him fetch and slice.
- Early spin, dragging him across the crease and cramping his arcs.
The result? No slot balls, no easy swing zones and a batsman itching to break free who instead finds fielders waiting.
Why his method isn’t clicking
Technically, small adjustments are hurting him:
- He is premeditating earlier, committing before the ball arrives.
- He is leaning into strokes, losing shape when slower balls grip.
- He is forcing the tempo after getting a start, exactly the phase where he once turned starts into match-winning fifties.
In short, the timing of his big shots is all wrong. Instead of building into destruction, he is swinging himself out of the game.
IPL as the mirror
The IPL is often a yardstick and here too the decline is visible. From being Sunrisers’ sledgehammer in 2024, blasting a hundred and 32 sixes to being just a useful top-order hitter in 2025, Head’s ceiling has lowered.
He still scored runs but the intimidation factor, the ability to end a game in the first six overs has gone missing.
Can he bounce back?
This isn’t terminal. The power is still there, the strokes are still clean. The fix lies in patience and timing:
- Hold the big shot for six more balls after the start.
- Target straighter zones instead of defaulting to the slog.
- Play deeper in the crease against slower cutters.
- Identify one bowler per game to attack, like he did so well in 2024.
Small tweaks can flip the switch. Right now, he is revving loud but stuck in second gear. The moment he finds his timing again, the sixes will return and so will the fear factor.
Conclusion
Travis Head’s 2025 slump is not about losing ability but about losing rhythm. Last year he was a bazooka, this year he has been firing blanks.
The dismissal against New Zealand summed it up: promising start, reckless finish. The gulf between 2024 and 2025 is sharp in the stats but cricket is a game of fine margins.
If Head can rediscover that extra gear, the Travis Head of old will be back tormenting bowlers before long.
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