Lucknow: Delhi Capitals young batting sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk says if he could handle the nerves on his IPL debut, the credit goes to coach Ricky Ponting, who advised him to time the ball instead of swinging his bat wildly.
Fraser-McGurk, who turned 22 Thursday, was handed debut Friday against Lucknow Super Giants.
Fraser-McGurk, who holds the record for the fastest List A century in 29 balls, seized the opportunity with both hands, smashing a 35-ball 55 to set up their six-wicket win, that helped move up from the bottom of the standings.
“My instincts are aggressive, but before I went out to bat, Ricky said just focus on the timing, middle the ball, don’t try to hit it too hard,” said the Victorian.
“That sort of helped me ease my nerves, went out there and had a great innings, and hopefully continue doing it.”
He began by hitting six off Yash Thakur in the very second ball he faced, then he hammered Arshad Khan for a 96-metre six.
But his biggest assault came against India spin bowling all-rounder Krunal Pandya when he spanked him for three sixes in a row to virtually kill the contest.
“It’s just the same thing I’ve been doing in every other game for the last eight months — watch the ball, react to it and play to your instinct,” Fraser-McGurk, who struck five sixes and two fours during his innings, spoke about his approach.
Having gone unsold at the auction, the young Aussie top-order batter, who has two ODI appearances, was signed at his base price of Rs 50 lakh as a replacement for Lungi Ngidi.
Before IPL, the youngster played three matches for Dubai Capitals in the ILT20 this season where he scored 109 runs in his three innings at a strike rate of 213.72.
A surreal moment
“It was a surreal moment, obviously it hadn’t sunk in yet playing in the IPL. It’s just an amazing team and organisation to be part of,” an elated Jake added while talking about his memorable debut.
“It’s an amazing feeling being able to contribute to Delhi Capitals’ win and hopefully we keep this going. The atmosphere out here is unbelievable, stadiums are massive, so many people and always loud. It’s a lot different to back home,” he concluded.