Not Rohit or Root! Dinesh Karthik Feels 30-Year-Old Aussie Is Best All-Format Batter In World Cricket Right Now

Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik has ignored Indian captain Rohit Sharma and legendary English cricketer Joe Root to pick a 30-year-old Australian star as the world’s best all-format batter right now. According to Karthik, who brought an end to his two-decade-long career earlier this year, Travis Head, who was on fire in the recently concluded five-match ODI series between England and Australia, is the best batter across formats at the moment.

Head scored an unbeaten 154 in the series opener against England and then maintained his ace form throughout the series to help the Mitchell Marsh-led side get the better of Harry Brook & Co. by a margin of 3-2. For his super show with the bat as well as the ball, Head won the Player of the Series award.

“Have to say Travis Head is right in front of the pack. Yashasvi Jaiswal has batted really well; he hasn’t got too much of an opportunity in ODI cricket, so Travis Head at this moment I would say,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz’s HeyCB with DK show when asked about the best all-format batter in world cricket right now.

Head, who missed the first half of the ODI World Cup last year, scored a century against New Zealand in Dharamsala, and then in the final played on November 19 in Ahmedabad, he hammered 137 runs to single-handedly win the ODI World Cup for Pat Cummins & Co.

He joined SRH for Rs 6.80 crore in the IPL 2024 auction last year and finished as the top scorer for them in the 17th edition of the cash-rich league by amassing a total of 567 runs in 15 matches.

Head will next be seen in action for the six-time ODI World Cup winners in home series against Pakistan next month. The Aussies will face Pakistan in three ODI and three T20I matches from November 4 to 18. After the white-ball series against Men in Green, Australia will face India in a five-match Test series. The series opener of the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is scheduled to take place at Perth Stadium from November 22 to 26, and the next four matches will be played in Adelaide (December 6-10), Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).