NEW DELHI: Jake Fraser-McGurk, a rookie batting star for the Delhi Capitals, attributes his ability to manage his jitters on his IPL debut to coach Ricky Ponting, who told him to time the ball rather than swing the bat wildly.
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The 22-year-old Fraser-McGurk made his debut on Friday against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Fraser-McGurk, who now owns the record for the fastest century in 29 balls for a List A side, grabbed hold of the chance and blasted a 35-ball 55 to set up their six-wicket victory, which enabled them to climb up 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.
The young Australian top-order hitter, who has played in two ODIs, was signed at his base price of Rs 50 lakh to replace Lungi Ngidi after the player failed to sell at the auction.
The young player participated in three ILT20 matches for the Dubai Capitals this season before to the IPL, where he scored 109 runs at a strike rate of 213.72 in his three innings.
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.
(With PTI inputs)
1/9:Jake Fraser-McGurk's IPL debut heroics: Delhi Capitals beat Lucknow Super Giants
PTI
2/9:Jake Fraser-McGurk's IPL Debut
Jake Fraser-McGurk smashed an impressive half-century on his Indian Premier League debut.AFP
3/9:Delhi Capitals' Victory
Delhi Capitals thrashed Lucknow Super Giants by six wickets to reignite their hopes in the money-spinning T20 competition.PTI
4/9:Lucknow Super Giants' Performance
<b>Lucknow, who came into the match with three wins out of four, are now placed fourth after the loss.</b>AFP
5/9:Jake Fraser-McGurk's Power-Hitting
Jake Fraser-McGurk (55 off 35 balls) hit Krunal Pandya for three huge sixes in a row in one over to underline his power-hitting prowess.ANI
6/9:Kuldeep Yadav's Bowling Impact
Lucknow were off to a fine start but they stumbled after the powerplay, losing two wickets in two balls to left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav (3-20).AFP
7/9:Lucknow Super Giants' Recovery
Lucknow were tottering at 94/7 but Ayush Badoni scored an unbeaten 35-ball 55 and shared 73 runs for the eighth wicket with Arshad Khan (20 not out) to ensure a fighting total on the board.ANI
8/9:LSG skipper KL Rahul after the loss
"We were about 15-20 runs short, we should've capitalised to get to 180," said Lucknow skipper KL Rahul. "McGurk was very unknown. We've watched a lot of videos of him but he hit the ball really well, credit to him."AFP
