'I can't see myself batting at five or six': Fraser-McGurk on his omission from Australia's T20 WC squad

New Delhi, May 7 (IANS) Following his omission from the T20 World Cup squad, young Australian opening batter Jake Fraser-McGurk has revealed the challenges of breaking into the formidable team, which includes veteran opener David Warner and Travis Head.

The young opener said he couldn't see himself batting at number five or six since the lineup already has players like Tim David and Cameron Green.

Fraser-McGurk went from being a bench player for the Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) to being included in the conversation for a spot in the Australian side that is set to travel to the T20 World Cup in June.

"There's two ways you can look at it. You can look at it through, 'This is what I've done to prove my case,' and then there's also, 'Look, a month and a half ago I wasn't even in the picture'. They (selectors) probably had a good idea of what (the squad) was a month and a half ago, trying to build that, how they can get the connection in that team," said the 22-year-old on the Willow Talk podcast.

"It's also hard to fit in. You've got David Warner, our best opener ever in three formats. You've got Travis Head, who's lighting it up over here (in the IPL) and has lit up for the past 18 months. And then Mitch Marsh is the same and he's also the captain. I can't really see myself batting five or six because we're pretty set there with Timmy David, Cam Green, those sort of blokes," he added.

The right-handed batter made a name for himself after showcasing his raw ability to clear the boundary rope on multiple occasions. In the six IPL 2024 games, Fraser-McGurk has padded up for the Delhi side and has been in scintillating form, accumulating 259 runs at a strike rate of 233.3 including 23 maximums and as many as boundaries.

"So that's the way I think about it. That's fine. There's hopefully going to be more time for that. If I do somehow get a traveling reserve (spot) then great, I can get a good experience there, but (his omission) didn't really bother me a hell of a lot because I wasn't in this position to feel like I've earned that yet. World Cup cricket is a lot different to IPL and franchise cricket," he concluded.

He made his international debut against the West Indies during their tour to Australia in February this year. During the 3-match ODI series, the 22-year-old played two games scoring 51 runs with the highest score of 41 runs off 18 deliveries. However, he is yet to play a T20I for his country.