Dhruv Jurel’s 80 against Australia A has brought him in contention for a slot in the playing XI for the first Test match against Australia.
Sixteen balls into the first morning, India A were in tatters at 11-4 at the MCG when Jurel stepped out to bat. Michael Neser (4-27) looked unplayable after a seven-ball burst of three wickets.
But Jurel settled down, added 53 with Devdutt Padikkal (26) and 39 with Nitish Kumar Reddy (16) to save India A the ignominy of a two-digit score. He continued, adding 36 with Prasidh Krishna (14) before being ninth out for 80 – almost half of India A’s 161.
Jurel was part of the Indian Test squad that was swept 0-3 by New Zealand at home. Despite the defeats, his outings were restricted to taking over the big gloves when Rishabh Pant was injured in the first Test. Ahead of the upcoming Test series, the selectors flew him and KL Rahul out to play the second unofficial “Test” against Australia A.
Read: How Dhruv Jurel rose through the ranks to earn an India Test cap
There is little doubt over Pant’s status as the default Test wicketkeeper, let alone for India but even for a contemporary World XI. However, can Jurel make it to the India Test XI for the first Test in Perth as a specialist batter?
A case for Jurel
A horrific accident in end-2022 kept Pant out of professional cricket until the 2024 IPL. He did return to competitive cricket, proved his fitness in long-form cricket in the Duleep Trophy, and made a comeback to Test cricket during the Bangladesh series in September.
In the interim period, India backed KS Bharat before moving on to Ishan Kishan. They made Rahul keep wicket for the first time in Test cricket, switched back to Bharat, before finally giving Jurel a Test cap.
While largely faultless with the big gloves, it was his performances in front of the wicket that grabbed the eye. At Ranchi, especially, he lifted India from 177-7 to 307, then emerged at 120-5 and saw the side to a five-wicket win in only his second match. Three Tests into his career – all in the England series at home – he has 190 runs at 63.33.
