CHENNAI: Even as late as the second week of March, Jake Fraser-McGurk’s Summer plans didn’t involve playing for Delhi Capitals. The breakout star of the Indian Premier League (IPL) may have probably been looking at shooting some hoops with mates, some fishing and working on his game in March, April and May.
Then, a spot opened up thanks to Lungi Ngidi’s injury. Delhi plumped for him even if they had a stacked Aussie-heavy top-order. Whether by chance or by design, it has worked wonders. He has been electric and has routinely embarrassed top bowlers. On Tuesday, the opener continued with a breath-taking takedown of Rajasthan Royals inside the powerplay. He had made a soporific start (run-a-ball 7) as Trent Boult, one of the finest new-ball operators in the history of the league in terms of wickets, had altered the line of attack. The Kiwi usually searches for some swing early to bring the pads into play. Here, it was a nod to McGurk’s aggression so the seamer was looking to angle in deliveries, with the length going to be short as well as full.
Off the fourth ball of the innings, Boult had hit McGurk in the unmentionables. The opener was down and the physio spent a good time working to ensure nothing was damaged. By the time McGurk’s work was done for the evening, he had put a big dent in the visitors’ aspirations of sealing a playoff berth with a win.
After being hit in the box, McGurk went 401640401444646. Sure, some of those were slogs but the good thing with the way he slogs is his base, the bat speed and balance. It was in evidence straightaway as he hit through the line off Boult over mid-off after giving some room.
His first six of the night — also off Boult — was pumped straight into the sightscreen. The front leg was already out of the way when the Kiwi bowler was in his delivery stride. When the ball pitched inside his hitting zone, the bat made one smooth arc to send the ball soaring over the bowler’s head. More boundaries followed.
When Avesh Khan was introduced, the 22-year-old got lucky as an inside edge narrowly evaded the leg-stump before it sped past Sanju Samson for a boundary. More good luck followed him as an uppish club just evaded the man stationed at extra cover. Avesh very quickly lost his length and JFM brought down the full face of the bat to loft him over mid-off.
Sanju Samson had some words of advice but it didn’t matter much as he kept travelling. In the process, the Australian reached a 19-ball 50. It ought to have been 56 off 20 as an attempted R Ashwin carrom ball was a knee-high full-toss. But he mishit the delivery straight to covers. 60/1 off 4.2 overs. The light had been extinguished against the run of play but he had fulfilled his role to perfection as DC posted 221/8 before restricting RR to 201/8 to seal a 20-run win.
Having already had multiple innings like this this year, a few people expected him to feature in Australia squad but he didn’t have any expectation. “There’s two ways you can look at it,” he told the Willow Talk podcast last week. “They (selectors) probably had a good idea of what (the squad) was a month and a half ago, trying to build that, how they can get the connection in that team. It’s also hard to fit in.
You’ve got David Warner, our best opener ever in three formats. You’ve got Travis Head, who’s lighting it up over here (in the IPL) and has lit up for the past 18 months. And then Mitch Marsh is the same and he’s also the captain.” But with Warner still nursing an injury, Marsh still convalescing back home, will they be tempted to relook at Fraser-McGurk? With more than 15 days to go to hand in the final 15-man squads, you can’t rule it out. Not yet anyway. Brief scores: DC 221/8 in 20 ovs (Jake 50, Porel 65; Ashwin 3/24) bt RR 201/8 in 20 ovs (Samson 86, Parag 27; Mukesh 2/30).