Delhi Capitals' (DC) Director of Cricket, Sourav Ganguly lauded young Australian opener Jake Fraser-McGurk and predicted that he will have a bright future in T20 cricket. Ganguly hinted that DC are likely to retain him ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) mega auction.
Ganguly was surprised when the 22-year-old did not find a place in Australia's squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024 squad.
"What I like about him is he is hungry. He wants to play more. I know he missed out on the World Cup. Australia should have probably picked him, but that's the way it goes, when you have so many good players in Warner, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh. But, he is 22 and got a long career," former Indian captain told the broadcasters.
Fraser-McGurk was not picked in the mini-auction. He was roped in as replacement for South Africa pacer Lungi Ngidi who was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. However, in true sense, he turned out to be England batter Harry Brook's replacement. The young English batter pulled out of IPL 2024 due to personal reasons.
"And I am sure he will be up and ready. Teams will want him. We (DC) will want him for us in the future because he is a game-changer. That's what we need in this format. We will see how it goes," he added.
Fraser-McGurk's numbers
Fraser-McGurk stood up to the task in David Warner's replacement. The Australian opener has struggled with an injury that prevented him from playing a better part of the season. While Fraser-McGurk departed for a two-ball duck against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), he has 330 runs under his belt from nine innings at an average of 36.67 including four fifties. His strike rate of 234.04 has been outstanding.
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Ganguly hails youngster's work ethics
"He has brought a lot to the table. I am happily surprised by the way he has batted. I think it's the first time in the sub-continent for him. I think the wickets were good. But you still have to put them away. The attitude has been good. He works hard at the nets. He doesn't take anything for granted. Even at optional training, he will come, he will bat and get ready. I see very good things for him in this format," he added.
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