Daijiworld Media Network- Dubai
Dubai, Mar 4: Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has thrown his support behind young batter Jake Fraser-McGurk to replace the injured Matt Short as Australia’s opener in the crucial ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final against India on Tuesday.
Short has been ruled out of the tournament due to a left quadriceps injury sustained during Australia’s rain-affected Group B clash against Afghanistan. His absence has led to the inclusion of travelling reserve Cooper Connolly in the squad.
While Connolly, a powerful hitter and capable off-spinner, is a like-for-like replacement, Ponting believes that Fraser-McGurk is the right choice to open the innings. The young batter has played seven ODIs for Australia, striking at 132 but averaging just 14 runs with a highest 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—semi-finals, must-win, big games—you need to throw caution to the wind," Ponting stated in The ICC Review.
The former skipper pointed to Fraser-McGurk’s stellar IPL 2024 performance, where he finished with an explosive strike-rate of 234 from nine innings, as a reason to back the youngster in a high-pressure game.
"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 alternative options, including reshuffling the batting order by promoting Steve Smith or wicketkeeper-batter Josh Inglis to open the innings.
"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 over 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 who could provide spin options," he concluded.