Dhruv Jurel scores unbeaten 115 in Colombo and fills multiple roles for India
Dhruv Jurel struck an unbeaten 115 in the first innings of the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo last week, and he also kept briefly before taking a running catch to dismiss Lahiru Kumara in Sri Lanka’s first innings.
The 25-year-old from Agra earned his first Test cap as a wicketkeeper against England in Rajkot in February 2024 when Rishabh Pant was sidelined after his horrific road accident of 14 months previously and KS Bharat had played himself out of the XI following poor efforts in the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam. On debut Jurel scored 46 and then in the following match produced 90 and 39 not out in February 2024, the latter arriving in a tense run-chase during which he and Shubman Gill added an unfinished sixth-wicket stand of 72.
Jurel has frequently been deployed as a specialist batter: in six of his last nine Tests he has batted between No.4 and No.8, while he served as the designated wicketkeeper on three occasions when Pant was unavailable after breaking his right foot in the Manchester Test against England in July last year. Head coach Gautam Gambhir identified him as a dependable batting option, and Jurel has responded with two hundreds and a fifty in those nine Tests and 15 innings.
His domestic and international sequence includes an unbeaten 125 in Ahmedabad last October and 44 in the following Test in Delhi, before a difficult run when Pant returned against South Africa in November, during which Jurel recorded scores of 14, 13, 0 and 2 in a 0-2 series result. He then joined the India A shadow tour of Sri Lanka and posted 141 not out, 14 and 53, was selected for the first Test in Galle where he made 51 and 7, and subsequently played the innings of 115 in Colombo.
Jurel was selected for the Sri Lanka series for his ability to play spin with finesse, and the article notes it is hard now to see him being overlooked for the November Test tour of New Zealand. At No.6 behind Pant he is considered to have the technique to handle the second new ball, while the presence of Ravindra Jadeja and the possible return of Washington Sundar offers a right-handed option amid several left-handers in the line-up.
His Test batting average stands at 40.68 from 12 Tests. India are fortunate that in Jurel, they have a three-in-one cricketer with his entire future ahead of him.
A place in the starting XI in Wellington in November is no more than he deserves; one can rest assured that Jurel will be short on neither preparation nor fire when 'Play' is called at the Basin Reserve.