Ponting picks Fraser-McGurk as Short's replacement for semi-final against India

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting picked explosive young batter Jake Fraser-McGurk as a replacement of opener Matthew Short for an all-important ICC Champions Trophy 2025 semi-final against India.

The ODI World Cup 2023 finalist teams will face each other in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on March 4. Australia’s opener Matt Short suffered a calf injury against Afghanistan on Friday

Speaking during the latest edition of The ICC Review, Ricky Ponting said that he would back Jake Fraser-McGurk, a big-hitting young player, to replace Matt Short at the top of Australia’s batting order.

“He [Jake Fraser-McGurk] can slot straight into that position. To be honest, that’s the way I would probably go and just hope that he has one of his days because in games like these, the semi-finals, must-win, big games, you need to throw caution to the wind,” Ricky Ponting said

“I think he’s the sort of player that if you back him, and give him an opportunity, he might just be good enough to win a big game for you like that.”

The two-time Champions Trophy winning-captain also suggested other batters including skipper Steve Smith and Josh Inglis as openers in semi-final against India.

“They could even move Steve Smith up there and open the batting. He’s done a terrific job when he opened in T20 cricket the last couple of years. He’s a good player of fast bowling, which was one of the points I made before trying to negate that new ball and get through to those middle-overs. They could put [Josh] Inglis up there if they wanted to, and then leave someone like Cooper Connolly as another left-hander in the middle order that could give them some spin options,” Ricky Ponting said.