Delhi Capitals were sent a stern message from the former IPL-winning coach after the side’s win over LSG.
Australian coach Tom Moody was awestruck by Jake Fraser-McGurk’s carnage against the Lucknow Super Giants as he played a match-winning knock of 55 runs from 35 deliveries on Friday. Fraser-McGurk was playing his debut game when he smashed his maiden IPL half-century. Moody, who was drawn towards the youngster’s potential, suggested that he should be allowed to open the innings for his team if they want to qualify for the playoffs.
Delhi Capitals’ David Warner and Prithvi Shaw during IPL 2024(DC)
On Friday, DC walked in with the hope of clinching their first win over the LSG after trailing 0-3 in the head-to-head record. The 2020 runner-ups were also searching for the second win of their season in six games. After losing David Warner in the powerplay while chasing 167 runs against the hosts, Fraser-McGurk took everyone by surprise with his demolishing knock. A six off the very second delivery he played, followed by three consecutive sixes against Krunal Pandya, were a testament to his potential.
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‘Huge upside to what he can offer’- Moody
Tom Moody believed that DC must implement an aggressive strategy if they wanted to qualify for the playoffs by allowing the youngster to open the innings. Fraser-McGurk’s half-century included a whopping 5 sixes, helping DC traverse a challenging 167-run chase. Speaking to Star Sports, Moody mentioned that the youngster got no-off button and played with a relentless approach.
“What we saw from Fraser-McGurk tonight. You want him to face every single ball in the power play because he’s got no off button and he’ll go and go hard. Uh, there’s yes, there’s a lot of experience there, but there’s a huge amount of upside to what he can offer and Delhi is in a position where they need to just win games of cricket, so they need to risk their game to accumulate wins,”
The Australian also said the time was running out for the Capitals in terms of qualification for the playoffs and they must not impart conservative gameplay to accumulate points on the table.
“They can’t play conservatively and expect to play finals from where there are, you know, played six games, only won two. So they need to play a really aggressive brand of cricket, and their mindset needs to be aggressive. Therefore, their selection and the way they structure their side needs to also back that philosophy. So, for me, Fraser McGurk needs to be batting at the top of the order,” he added.
