Jake Fraser-McGurk has landed a chance to show off his exciting batting talent in the Indian Premier League, having been snapped up as a late replacement by Delhi Capitals.
The 21-year-old Australian prospect has been announced as a late replacement for injured South African paceman Lungi Ngidi for the season that begins next week.
Fraser-McGurk joins Delhi for his base price of INR 50 lakh ($92,000) and will be in a squad that also features three other Australians David Warner, Mitch Marsh and Jhye Richardson.
The team is coached by Rcky Ponting, who's also a big fan of the South Australia batter and has predicted Fraser-McGurk, who's also a useful legspinner, could be a star of the future.
โWith the talent and the skill that David Warner had, Jake has got as much talent as David had come coming through," Ponting said.
It's a big opportunity for the youngster who was fast-tracked into the Australia ODI squad, playing his first international matches against the West Indies in February.
He's also made a name for himself in the BBL, hammering a 21-ball fifty amid 257 runs for the Renegades this season while also scoring the fastest List A hundred, off 29 balls, for South Australia in the Marsh Cup last October.
But despite being highly touted, Fraser-McGurk has had a bit of a lean run in the red-ball game, having scored 0, 1, 16, 2, 14 and 2 in this season's Sheffield Shield.
Earlier in the week, England batter Harry Brook also pulled out of Derlhi's squad following the death of his grandmother in February.ย
The Capitals didn't name a replacement for Brook, with Melburnian Fraser-McGurk doubtless also seen as a player who could fill a hole left by the English star.
