The Delhi Capitals’ decision to secure Jake Fraser-McGurk for the Indian Premier League is a significant gamble but could prove the making of the Australian sensation, according to a renowned Indian broadcaster.
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The 22-year-old, who demonstrated his promise for the Capitals earlier this year when scoring 330 runs at a strike rate of 234, was the subject of a bidding war between Delhi, the Punjab Kings and the Lucknow Super Giants before being secured by his initial IPL club.
Fox Cricket analyst Harsha Bhogle has no doubt Fraser-McGurk, who struggled for form for Australia during the recent T20 and ODI series against Pakistan, will have already received advice from the franchise which paid $1.65 million to secure him for the 2025 season.
But Bhogle described the selection as a gamble given the context of the IPL auction in Jedda this week which saw Indian stars offered massive sums and fewer international players selected as a result.
“Among the overseas players, because a lot of the Indian players went for a lot of money, there was not enough available on Day Two in the purse to buy overseas players,” Bhogle told Fox Cricket’s podcast The Follow On.
“The one that surprised me was Jake Fraser-McGurk. I think it is a big punt on a young kid. (But) if he does well, then you have got him for three years.”
Fraser-McGurk, who was overlooked for Sheffield Shield duties with South Australia this week, will also be a star attraction in the Big Bash League for the Melbourne Renegades.
But amid concerns the Victorian is not getting the chance to hone his red ball skills with a view to representing Australia in Test cricket, Bhogle said it is worth noting the young Australian will get access to an outstanding level of coaching in India.
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“He will have a lot of good coaches around him,” Bhogle said.
“As soon as he is picked, I can assure you right now the team management at Delhi would be in touch with him, saying ‘What are you going to do over the next three months? How can we make you a better regular player when you come to Indian to play (in) the IPL?’
“It is an astonishingly high quality of cricket, but also once you go to the IPL, you are with the best coaches, you are surrounded by the best cricketers. For example, to take a couple of Aussie names, there is a Michael Hussey who is on the staff at the Super Kings.
“Now imagine as a young kid, a 16 or 17-year-old kid who is on the (roster) but not getting a game. He is just watching Michael. He is watching the others. He is saying, ‘Can I spend half an hour with you? Can I watch you bat?’
“Brian Lara was there recently. Ricky Ponting and Justin Langer are coaching there. But also great coaches from around the world, not just Australia, so it becomes a wonderful learning environment. That is what makes the IPL for me. The spectacle is something else.”
The IPL auction saw a new record set for a player, with Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant learning halfway through his nation’s dominant win in the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy series in Perth he would be paid $4.9m by the Super Giants.
Other substantial bids included the Punjab Kings paying Shreyas Iyer $4.87m and the Kolkata Knight Riders purchasing Venkatesh Iyer for $4.32m.
The leading Australian earners were Pat Cummins, who will earn $3.28m from Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mitch Starc, who will represent the Delhi Capitals for $2.2m, which is less than half his earnings from the 2024 season.
While the sums are eye-watering, Bhogle argues it is simply a product of the price broadcasters and sponsors are willing to invest in the league to reap the dividends that come from the association.
An argument can be made that players are actually being underpaid when it comes to the percentage of revenue the franchises and league make.
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“I think we have slowly started to come to terms with the capitalist nature of our sport. We enjoy the amateur nature of our sport. We like simple, hardworking, struggling people playing sport,” Bhogle said.
“Yet we are OK with English footballers making a lot of money. We are OK with people in the movies making a lot of money. And I think we are slowly starting to understand that cricketers, too, are providing entertainment and are drawing in a lot of money.
“For two months, every evening, India does nothing but watch cricket. And as a result, the television rights go for a lot of money and a lot of brands believe that if we have to have a launch any time in March, April or May, we have to be on the IPL.
“It is like the Superbowl. Do you release your best advertising on the Superbowl? Yes, you do. Do you release your best ad campaigns for the IPL? Yes, you do. People actually create advertising campaigns, marketing strategies all around the IPL. So the television rights are huge.
“I don’t know how many people in Australia follow that, but the current television rights cycle is $6.2 billion over five years. So there is a lot of money going to the franchises, so the purses are getting bigger and if the purse gets bigger, the money you have available to pay to the players becomes bigger. I am having to do it myself, but we have to recalibrate what is a good income for players.”
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