It is safe to say that Dhruv Jurel is the man of the hour. The wicketkeeper-batsman earned praise from all over after scoring an impressive 90 in the first innings of India’s fourth Test against England in Ranchi. So much so, that former India captain Sunil Gavaskar drew parallels and called him the “next MS Dhoni in making”.
Following his 46-run debut in Rajkot, Jurel produced his career-best maiden half-century and earned plaudits from far and wide. Heaping praise on his game awareness, Gavaskar lauded Jurel’s performance and said, “Of course he has batted well, but his keeping, his work behind the stumps has been equally brilliant. Just by looking at his game awareness, I want to say that he is another MS Dhoni in the making.”
“I know there can never be another MSD but you know the presence of mind that he has, MSD also when he started, it was that. And Jurel has that game awareness. Street-smart cricketer,” Gavaskar added during his live commentary during day 3 of the fourth Test match.
Jurel’s gritty knockout helped India achieve a score of 307, thereby quashing England’s 46-run lead in the first innings.
The 23-year-old, who replaced KS Bharat in the playing XI for the third test in Rajkot, added 76 runs to India’s score in partnership with Kuldeep Yadav before the latter was dismissed by James Anderson. Meanwhile, Yadav scored 28 runs off 131 balls. The partnership was crucial after India got reduced to 177 for seven at one stage.
However, Jurel got clean-bowled by Tom Hartley before he could score his maiden century in just his second Test match. His splendid 90-run knock comprised of six fours and four sixes.
Former India cricketer Virender Sehwag also showered praise on Jurel in a post on X. “No media hype, no drama, just some outstanding skills and quietly showed great temperament in a very difficult situation. Very well done Dhruv Jurel. Best wishes,” he wrote.
For England, Shoaib Bashir completed his maiden five-wicket haul after dismissing Akash Deep to return with the figures of 5 for 119 in his second Test, PTI reported.
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