Dubai, March 4 Former skipper Ricky Ponting backed youngster Jake Fraser-McGurk to replace injured Matt Short at the top of Australia’s batting order for their ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final clash against India on Tuesday.
Short was ruled out due to an injury to his left quadriceps which he sustained during Australia's washed out Group B game against Afghanistan. His absence promotes travelling reserve Cooper Connolly into the squad.
Connolly is a powerful hitter and also a capable off-spin bowler, proving to be a like-for-like replacement but Ponting is putting his faith in Fraser-McGurk, who has so far made seven appearances for Australia in ODIs, hitting at a strike-rate of 132l, averaging just 14 runs with a top score of 41.
"He can slot straight into that position. To be honest, that’s the way I would probably go and just hope that he has one of his days because in games like these, the semi-finals, must-win, big games, you need to throw caution to the wind," Ponting said in the latest edition of The ICC Review.
"I think he's the sort of player that if you back him, and give him an opportunity, he might just be good enough to win a big game for you like that," he said.
Ponting give Fraser-McGurk the nod partially due to his excellent performance in the IPL in 2024, where he finished with a strike-rate of 234 from nine innings.
"He probably has been a little bit disappointed with his output in the opportunities that he's had in the last six months. So this might just be the game where he can do something...like he did in the IPL with the Delhi Capitals last season," Ponting added.
Ponting also suggested some potential alternatives, including the batters that already feature in Australia’s playing XI at the Champions Trophy.
"They could even move Steve Smith up there and open the batting. He's done a terrific job when he's opened in T20 cricket the last couple of years. He's a good player of fast bowling, which was one of the points I made before trying to negate that new ball and get through to those middle-overs.
"They could put Josh Inglis up there if they wanted to, and then leave someone like Cooper Connolly as another left-hander in the middle order that could give them some spin options," he concluded.
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