Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan questioned Travis Head’s shot selection after Sunrisers Hyderabad suffered a 47-run loss against Rajasthan Royals at New Chandigarh in the eliminator contest on Wednesday.

Head gave himself room and showed his stumps to Jofra Archer, who was able to hit the top of off-stump to get rid of the left-hander. The Australian was dismissed after scoring 17 runs off eight deliveries and Pathan was not impressed with Head’s shot as Archer was bowling his third over.

Eventually, SRH was bowled out for 196 in the run chase of 244 as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Irfan Pathan said on his YouTube Video, “Then came the third over. This is where strategies come into play. Riyan Parag probably thought, ‘Jofra Archer, come bowl your third over in the powerplay. You already have two wickets, now get one more. Travis Head is there, dismiss him. Klaasen is there too, get either of them out.’”

“But what does Travis Head do? When runs are not coming this season, he moves away from the stumps and creates room. Just play normally, brother. Why not play normally? You know the opposition captain’s strategy is that a bowler who has taken wickets and is in rhythm is given another over to take wickets. you know that too. You are a senior player and a World Cup winner,” he added.

The 2007 T20 World Cup final hero said it was a brain-fade moment from Travis Head as he should have been smarter in his shot-selection.

“The lack of smart batting from Travis Head hurt Hyderabad badly. He completely exposed his stumps by moving outside leg stump. Before that, Jofra Archer’s length had mostly been short of a good length and back of a length. But the moment he saw Head move away, he targeted the stumps directly and bowled him. It was a brain-fade moment from Travis Head. That was where Jofra Archer and Riyan Parag’s planning was executed perfectly. It was a massive moment in the match.”

SRH were knocked out of the tournament after this crushing loss.