Aussies at the IPL: Fraser-McGurk goes berserk, Green shoots, sublime Stoinis

Jake Fraser-McGurk is causing the selectors a massive headache this week. He has become the first player in IPL history to post two 15-ball half-centuries. Even more impressively, he posted them a week apart, inside his first five IPL matches, and he destroyed the IPL's best bowler Jasprit Bumrah on Saturday afternoon in Delhi in his jaw-dropping 27-ball 84. He is taking T20 powerplay batting to another level and Delhi Capitals have not missed David Warner at all while he has been recovering from a finger injury.

Fraser-McGurk has not played a T20I yet, although he has played two ODIs. Australia had long settled their top three for the upcoming World Cup with Warner, Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh set to reprise the ODI World Cup-winning combination. At the same time, the middle-order is also settled with Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David and Matthew Wade having worked well in combination over the last two years. Josh Inglis is the back-up wicketkeeper and arguably the most flexible back-up batter in Australia having made a T20I century in India late last year.

Australia will likely need a second spinner, a spare fast bowler, and a spare allrounder in their 15. That leaves no room for a spare specialist top-three batter. But Fraser-McGurk's form is incredible. The thought of pairing him with Head at the top is salivating. Putting that combination together would mean either moving Warner down the order or dropping him from the XI or the 15 entirely, which is extremely unlikely given he is Australia's most experienced and successful tournament player.

The World Cup matches are also going to be played without an impact sub, which has emboldened players like Fraser-McGurk to play fearlessly with the insurance of an extended batting line-up behind him. Australia will also play exclusively on pitches in the Caribbean where the scoring rates are lower and spin has been far tougher to score against than pace. If the selectors are to find a spot for Fraser-McGurk in the 15, they will need to risk going without a spare wicketkeeper as they did in 2022 at home, or without a spare spinner in the 15 as they did at the 2023 ODI World Cup. But flying a replacement for one of those two needs, halfway around the world promptly in case of injury is not as simple as it was for the previous two tournaments.

Warner's injury absence is set to extend for another week as the bone bruising on his finger has not subsided, which is a slight concern for Australia. What Fraser-McGurk is doing in his absence, plus recency bias, has led to some external noise about his place in Australia's best XI for the World Cup. It is unlikely the same queries have been tabled internally by the Australian selectors given how much credit he has built over a 15-year career. There has been a tendency for critics to conflate the lean end to his Test career with his white-ball form for Australia, which has remained strong despite the age on his birth certificate. It had been a lean IPL by his standards prior to his injury but his form had not been alarming. Warner's experience will be invaluable in the Caribbean if the pitches play the way they are expected to. But if Australia get some good pitches in the Caribbean and Warner is selected over Fraser-McGurk, he will need to re-find his fearless former self. No doubt, he will be spurred to prove that he is still one of Australia's best T20 openers.

Meanwhile, Mitchell Starc suffered a bizarre finger injury and missed Kolkata Knight Riders' most recent match against Punjab Kings. It's also not the first time he's lacerated his bowling finger with his spikes. Starc's form before the injury had been very up and down and the rest may well have come at a decent time in the middle of the tournament. KKR's attack fared poorly in his absence as they failed to defend 261. KKR were confident he would return in one of their next two games. Australia's selectors would love him to find some consistency ahead of the World Cup.

Cameron Green has found some form with bat and ball playing in an unfamiliar role for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and it has come at the right time ahead of the World Cup squad being selected. He made 37 not out off 20 in a finishing role against Sunrisers Hyderabad, nailing his Test captain Pat Cummins for four boundaries in the death overs. He has also bowled well in two of his last three games picking up 2 for 35 against KKR and 2 for 12 against SRH including claiming Cummins, with his execution and unpredictability as a T20 bowler improving. Although he was clattered for 42 from just three overs in RCB's win over Gujarat Titans on Sunday.

Part of the complication of finding a place for Fraser-McGurk is Australia's absolute need for a spare fast-bowling allrounder in the 15 due to the injury concerns over Marsh and Stoinis. Marsh is currently at home recovering from a hamstring injury that ended his IPL. He is expected to be fully fit for the tournament and is set to be captain. But his ability to bowl in every game is an unknown. Stoinis is in fine form with bat and ball. But he missed Australia's last four T20Is during the summer with a back issue and missed three of the nine pool games in the ODI World Cup due to niggles after an injury-riddled lead-in. He was then squeezed out of the XI for the semi and the final. Green played a crucial role in one of those ODI World Cup pool games against England making 47 when he replaced Marsh who was absent for family reasons.

Injury worries aside, Stoinis sent a reminder of his ceiling as a T20 cricketer with a stunning unbeaten 124 to guide Lucknow Super Giants home against Chennai Super Kings. It was a masterclass in T20 batting having been promoted to No.3. He also showed that he can be more durable than he has been in the past by bowling four overs, including the 20th, before batting almost 20 and guiding his team home. He strangely only bowled one over in LSG's next match against Rajasthan despite picking up the vital wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal and conceding just three runs after missing out with the bat. But a fit, versatile, in-form Stoinis heading to the World Cup bodes very well for Australia.