The last time Travis Head was at a 50-over ICC event, he raised his bat and helmet almost nonchalantly amid stone-cold silence in the latter stages of the 2023 World Cup final in Ahmedabad.
Those heroics quickly made him a cult favourite back in Australia, and his career across formats has continued to move at a frenetic pace mirroring his batting in the middle.
While that unforgettable 137 against India was perhaps his true breakout performance for a wider global audience, Head enters Champions Trophy 2025 as a short-handed Australia's most important batter.
While the focus has been on their seam bowling being ravaged, Australia have lost considerable batting firepower since the World Cup triumph with Mitchell Marsh and Cameron Green on the sidelines with back injuries, while David Warner and Marcus Stoinis have retired.
Top-order batters Matthew Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk are out of form and not used to South Asian conditions, while veterans Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne lack power-hitting and are more suited to playing the anchor role.
Australia's batting woes were heightened when they only made 165 and 107 in consecutive defeats against Sri Lanka in Colombo ahead of the Champions Trophy.
There will be considerable pressure on Head to ignite Australia's campaign against England in Lahore on Saturday. The winners of the past three ODI World Cups enter unfancied with both teams having lost their last four matches in the format.
Head has an excellent record against England in ODIs, especially since he returned to the Australia side following the retirement of Aaron Finch in 2022.
Since then, 31-year-old Head has made 499 runs in eight innings against England at an average of 71.28 and a strike rate of 120.46. He's gone very big in his two centuries, smashing 152 off 130 at the MCG in December 2022 and 154 not out from 129 in Nottingham last September.
But quick Brydon Carse did have his number subsequently, dismissing him inside the powerplay three times in a row - twice with shorter deliveries.
Carse and England's other seamers are likely to deploy the tactic with Head having had struggles against well-directed short deliveries when unable to free his arms early in his innings. Since 2023, six of his 11 dismissals to quicks inside the powerplay have been against short or back-of-a-length deliveries arriving on the stumps or just wide.
"For me it's about preparing well over the next few days," Head, who will be stand-in skipper Smith's deputy during the tournament, said. "I'm going to have my work cut out with some of that fast bowling that England have got... high quality, highly skilled, high pace.
"I've got to make sure I start well, earn the right [to score runs], and then let's see where the game takes us."
In ODIs since 2023, Head has struck at 129 in the first ten overs - the highest among those who have batted at least ten times in the powerplay - and has hit a boundary every 4.04 balls in the first ten overs, also the best by a batter under the criteria.
"I'm very lucky [to bat in the powerplay], but for me it's about starting really well, finding the gaps and being proactive," Head said. "Trying to let the game come to me as much as it is going the other way.
"I know sometimes it may look the opposite, but I feel like the times that I've been able to express myself the most have been the times I've started really well, been in good positions and respected what's come down at me.
"I guess if you don't do that against some of the quality attacks and you go in with preconceived ideas or get ahead of yourself, that's when you find yourself in trouble."
While the relevance of the resurrected Champions Trophy has been questioned, the short and sharp format - two groups of four teams - does heighten the stakes of every match unlike the drawn-out World Cup.
Australia have been notoriously slow starters at major events, losing their opening two games at the last World Cup before turning it around, but can ill-afford early slip-ups this time around.
"We need to use the next four days to prepare well to make sure we hit the ground running," Head said. "You don't have the luxury of a World Cup with a lot of games to work into a tournament and can pinpoint games that are maybe more important than others when you're navigating through tournament play.
"Here it's pretty cut-throat, it's pretty much knockout, and you've got to start well."
Three years ago, Head was part of Australia's historic return to Pakistan after a 23-year absence, but the tour took place under strict Covid-19 pandemic protocols. The days of isolation and compulsory face masks might be over, but Australia are amid a heavy security presence in Pakistan in what is a new experience for some of the team's fresher faces.
"Very tight security, I've experienced it before and I knew what I was coming to in that bubble aspect of things with the travel to and from the ground," Head said. "Guys will do different things in downtime. Slightly different for the guys having never been here before or haven't experienced that hard security bubble, but that's what we're in... and [just need to be] ready to go."