Jake Fraser-McGurk will play in the IPL with Ricky Ponting’s Delhi Capitals

It’s good to have fans in powerful places and Jake Fraser-McGurk is set to benefit from Ricky Ponting’s excitement about the batting tyro.

Australian legend Ricky Ponting was an unabashed fan of young batting dynamo Jake Fraser-McGurk and has shown how much he likes him by handing the 21-year-old his first Indian Premier League deal.

Ponting, the coach of the Delhi Capitals, has signed Fraser-McGurk on a $92,000 deal as replacement player just a over a month after his swashbuckling 18-ball innings of 41 in just his second ODI against the West Indies.

Fraser-McGurk’s international call-up came after a breakout BBL and on the back of blasting a world-record 29-ball hundred for South Australia in the Marsh One-Day Cup.

The former Victorian also played in the WorldT20 league in the UAE before being awarded national honours and set Manuka Oval alight with an innings which moved Ponting to declare he should be “fast tracked” for more Australian duties.

🚨 NEWS 🚨@DelhiCapitals name all-rounder Jake Fraser-McGurk as replacement for Lungisani Ngidi. #TATAIPL

Details 🔽 https://t.co/Ibyayedpzbpic.twitter.com/IanrX2XbyK

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 15, 2024

“(Fraser-McGurk) is someone that can be well and truly fast-tracked through the Australian system,” Ponting said in February.

“With the talent and the skill that (Warner) had – Jake has got as much talent as David had come coming through ... the earlier they can get him into the system (the better). Get him playing and letting him work out for himself the best way to have success in all the different formats.”

He will join fellow Australians David Warner, Mitch Marsh and Jhye Richardson in the Delhi squad and also fills the gap left by English star Harry Brook, who had to bypass the tournament for personal reasons.

Ponting signed Fraser-McGurk despite a spate of low returns for SA after his international debut, with scores of 0, 1, 16, 2, 14 and 2 in the Sheffield Shield.

But national selector George Bailey indicated Fraser-McGurk was a talent the Aussies would be keeping a close eye on, having also declared IPL performances would influence selection for this year’s T20 World Cup squad.

“Thrilled with what he did when he came in and great to see him get an opportunity through those one-dayers,” Bailey said in the wake of his ODI debut against the Windies.

“There’s clearly a high, high degree of talent with Jake.

“His ability to learn about how to best utilise that (talent) across the formats will be really interesting over the next coming years.”

Originally published as Jake Fraser-McGurk will play in the IPL with Ricky Ponting’s Delhi Capitals