Australian cricketer Travis Head and his wife have been subjected to online abuse after the Sunrisers Hyderabad batter was involved in a spat with Virat Kohli during their recent IPL 2026 face-off. The incident took place last Saturday during SRH’s 55-run win against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
Head and Kohli were involved in a heated verbal exchange during Kohli’s innings of 15 off 11 balls, although it remains unclear what sparked the altercation. Later, Kohli refused to shake hands with Head after the game. The Australian batter did stretch out his hand, but Kohli, after greeting Pat Cummins and Abhishek Sharma, walked past him without acknowledging the gesture.
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Following the incident, sections of social media targeted Head and his wife with abusive messages, many of them directed at their wedding photo from three years ago. While some dragged their family into the hate messages, others openly threatened Head and his loved ones.
Speaking to Australian media outlet The Advertiser, Head’s wife, Jessica, issued a statement saying: “It feels like a repeat of the abuse that happened after the World Cup. I woke up to my socials blasting… we are fine but they are attacking my friends and family.”
This is not the first time Jessica has been targeted online by Indian fans. Following the 2023 World Cup final and the World Test Championship final the same year — both won by Australia — she and her family reportedly received horrific messages, including threats of rape and kidnapping. A similar incident occurred after Australia beat India in the 2024 Boxing Day Test.
“I think across all sports at the moment there’s an important conversation around mental health, perspective and the way we speak to one another. Passion will always be part of sport, but so is remembering there are real people and families behind the game. Hopefully this encourages more kindness and support for one another,” Jessica added.
Head has yet to make an official statement on the online abuse, but he did appear to react to the Kohli incident through an Instagram story after the RCB game that simply read: “Keep the body guessing.” Some fans speculated the post was linked to the handshake snub involving Kohli, although that remains unclear.
