Adam Gilchrist, the old Aussie wicketkeeper, said Jake Fraser-McGurk might be riding the pine for the Delhi Capitals if he doesn’t perform right away. He pointed out that IPL teams aren’t very patient when guys are in bad form. Fraser-McGurk joined the Capitals as an injury replacement last year and smashed 330 runs in nine innings, including four fifties, in his first IPL season. His strike rate of 234.04 was second-best in the whole tournament. Even though, the team didn’t keep him, they bought him back at the auction using their ‘Right to Match’ for Rs 9 crores. But the young man’s T20I numbers haven’t been great recently. In his last 24 games, he’s only managed 382 runs at an average of 15.91, with a strike rate of 136.91.
(Delhi) have really backed him by keeping him on the team. He needs to get off to a good start. Usually, in the IPL 2025, teams, owners, and coaches don’t put up with poor performance for very long.
“If you have a decent beginning to a competition, it allows you the grace to get more involved in it and feel at ease, but Jake understands he will need to set the world on fire from the beginning, make sure he can have a solid competition for himself and his team, Gilchrist told Fox Cricket.
Gilchrist thinks Fraser-McGurk will do well at Arun Jaitley Stadium because of the flat pitch and short boundaries, as long as he doesn’t try to hit everything out of the park from ball one.
“The pitch he was batting on last year was ridiculously high-scoring. He’ll have every chance to score runs. It’s up to him to stay calm and make the most of those opportunities.
“I reckon he’s pretty level-headed, but he just needs to stay composed so he can play his shots well without getting ahead of himself. Like everyone, I get excited every time I watch him play, and I hope he can bat for a long time, he said.
The 18th IPL season is starting this Saturday, with the defending champs, Kolkata Knight Riders, playing Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Delhi Capitals will begin their season against the Lucknow Super Giants at Vishakhapatnam’s ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium on March 24.
