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By Jonathan Healy
Newly-appointed Australia T20I captain Mitch Marsh believes hard-hitting batter Jake Fraser-McGurk has a bright international future ahead, despite the fact the young gun narrowly missed selection for next month's ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
The 2021 T20 World Cup champions unveiled their squad for the 20-over showcase on Wednesday and the absence of Fraser-McGurk and former skipper Steve Smith from the 15-player group were among the biggest surprises.
Big names miss out as Australia reveal squad for T20 World Cup
Fraser-McGurk has been in scintillating form for the Delhi Capitals in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and many believed the right-hander had shown enough to make the trip to West Indies and USA next month for the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup.
And while Marsh has been impressed with what he has seen from Fraser-McGurk at international level and at Delhi, the Australia skipper suggested incumbent openers Travis Head and David Warner have the runs on the board and have earnt the right to continue their relationship at the top of the batting order.
“Jakey is an outstanding talent,” Marsh said on Australian radio station SEN.
“I think you know the way he's taking on the IPL, he’s taken it by storm, they’re all loving him, and certainly, the Delhi crew are enjoying his company and enjoying what he brings to the team and there's no doubt that he's going to have a huge future, wherever he plays.
“But we feel like we've got all bases covered within our team. Heady and David Warner have been fantastic for us, not only for a long period of time but over the last 18 months building towards this (T20) World Cup.
“We're really comfortable that we've got the right 15, to hopefully take us deep into the (T20) World Cup.”
All squads named so far: ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024
Fraser-McGurk has three half-centuries for Delhi already this IPL and his batting strike-rate of 233.33 is superior to every other batter at the tournament to have scored more than 60 runs.
More than half of Fraser-McGurk's 259 runs at the tournament have come from sixes, with the 22-year-old having cleared the rope on 23 occasions from six innings for Delhi to be sixth overall for most sixes at the event.
It bodes well for Fraser-McGurk's future against the white-ball and Marsh expects to see the top-order performer back playing for his country sooner rather than later.
“He’s come along pretty quickly. There's been a huge amount of talent that's been identified from a young age," Marsh noted.
“We saw a glimpse of it throughout the (domestic) Big Bash this year and you know that the IPL is a tough tournament.
“You can't take a backward step and that's certainly the way he plays his cricket and he's got an exciting future.”
Australia squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
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