Delhi Capitals have signed Australia batter Jake Fraser-McGurk for the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the replacement of Lungi Ngidi who has been ruled out due to injury. DC have signed the 21-year-old for his base price of INR 50 lakh and there is every chance of him featuring in the playing XI going forward in the season. But who is Jake Fraser-McGurk and why has he been signed by the Capitals? Let us know more about him:
The first and foremost thing to know about the young Australian cricketer is that he holds the record of hitting the fastest century in List A cricket. Jake had scored the ton off just 29 balls while playing for South Australia against Tasmania during the 2023-24 domestic season. Overall, he ended up smashing 128 runs off 51 deliveries with 10 fours and 13 sixes to his name even as his team lost chasing a mammoth target of 436 runs.
Though Jake Fraser-McGurk made his T20 debut in 2020 (first-class and List A debut in 2019), he hogged the limelight only recently for his brilliant performance in the Big Bash League (BBL). Playing for Melbourne Renegades, he opened the innings scoring 257 runs at a strike-rate of 158.64 with two fifties. He also smacked 18 sixes during his stint in the BBL and on the back of this show, McGurk also made his ODI debut against the West Indies.
He played two matches of the series registering a high score of 41 and overall scored 51 runs at a strike-rate of 221.73 giving a glimpse of his fearless hitting ability. Moreover, the young batter also played for Dubai Capitals in the second edition of International League T20.
He featured in three matches for the side smashing 109 runs at a strike-rate of 213.72 hitting as many as nine sixes. McGurk is already being touted to be the next big thing in Australia in white-ball cricket and moreover, former Australia captain and DC head coach Ricky Ponting feels that he could be the next David Warner.
It will be interesting to see if Jake Fraser-McGurk actually gets to play matches in IPL 2024, and a big knock in the cash-rich league can certainly make him a superstar at the highest level.
