After bowling 311 balls in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Jasprit Bumrah enjoyed an economy rate of 6.48. These are insane numbers for a bowler who only comes to bowl in crunch situations. But his economy would’ve been around 6 had Jake Fraser-McGurk didn’t come across Bumrah of the Mumbai Indians (MI). The Delhi Capitals (DC) sensation set the stage on fire at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, hammering the world’s best bowler to 6, 4, 4, and 1. That moment, we all know, JFM is a real deal!
What forced DC to sign Jake Fraser-McGurk back?
But fast forward now, and the Australian talent is enduring a horrible slump. He is struggling to hit sixes, an art he seemed to have cherish all over IPL 2024. For DC, McGurk came as a fresh sensation after David Warner’s lull run. The 2002-born had a dream debut in IPL. He scored 330 runs at an unmatchable strike rate of 234.04. For context, his 330 runs were just 15 runs behind Suryakumar Yadav’s tally (345) and more than what Quinton de Kock (250), Ishan Kishan (320) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (303) scored in their respective campaigns, with all of them playing more matches than McGurk.
IPL 2025: McGurk’s fire fizzles out?
But now, McGurk’s lean patch has stayed longer than his X-factor days. Playing for the Melbourne Renegades, McGurk has found it tough to go past the 4-over mandatory powerplay in the Big Bash League (BBL). In the five innings, he has just 55 runs to show, scoring one off three in the most recent beating at the hands of the Adelaide Strikers on Thursday. Batting at an average of 11.00, he has hammered runs at just 107.84. It’s not just in BBL 14 that he has looked like a shadow of the batter he really is.
Even when Pakistan came to the Australian shores, Jake Fraser-McGurk was expected to rattle them with some amazing ball-striking. He was given a run in the ODIs but failed miserably, scoring 36 runs in 3 innings. Australia hoped for better returns in the shortest format but made just 47 runs in 3 innings at 15.67. Not to forget, Scotland bowlers had it easy to get better of McGurk, who recorded two ducks in three attempts back in September.
Who to partner KL Rahul? McGurk or Faf du Plessis?
With players like JFM, you tend not to expect consistency for sure. In the mould of Chris Gayle, McGurk is a batter with a high ceiling who can change the course of a game in just a matter of 15 balls. But that comes with high risks. One attempt to whack a wrong ball and there you perish. Racked up KL Rahul for Rs 14.00 crore, DC surely need a maverick to partner him up. But in case McGurk gets out 9 out of 10 times, pressure undeniably builds up. That’s where Faf du Plessis comes up. Du Plessis, another excellent opener, joined the Delhi Capitals this year after moving from Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for just a base price of Rs 2 crore.
His 2024 season was exceptional—he played 15 matches and scored 438 runs with a strike rate of 161.6. Despite retiring from international cricket, Faf’s form has remained intact, and he continues to perform exceptionally well. In 2024, du Plessis played a total of 34 T20s, striking 1097 runs at a SR of over 160.
Jake Fraser McGurk since IPL 2024
| Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 249 | 13.10 | 167 |
Jake Fraser McGurk in IPL 2024
| Innings | Runs | Average | Strike Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 330 | 36.66 | 234.04 |
