Dhruv Jurel has made steady strides in his young international career since getting an opportunity against England in the Test series earlier this year, when KS Bharat went out of favour. But with Rishabh Pant back and firing, the 23-year-old Jurel can’t take his senior’s place as a wicketkeeper in the playing eleven — barring an injury. But Jurel’s fighting knock against India ‘A’ in the second unofficial Test against Australia ‘A’ in Melbourne might force the Indian management to award him with a spot in the first Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), beginning in Perth on November 22.
Jurel, along with KL Rahul, flew early to Australia and joined India ‘A’ ahead of their second match that began on Thursday. Both were expectedly included in the playing XI to get acclimatized before the start of the BGT, but had a contrasting day.
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Opening the batting, Rahul was dismissed in the second over of the day by paceman Scott Boland for just four runs. But Jurel, who came in to bat at a precarious 11 for 4, played a fighting knock of 80 off 186 balls to present his case for inclusion in the Perth Test.
But who can Jurel replace, should coach Gautam Gambhir decide to play him as a specialist batsman?
With captain Rohit Sharma almost certain to miss the first Test of the series, Rahul is likely to partner Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener. Rahul is contesting for that opening spot with the uncapped Abhimanyu Easwaran, who too hasn’t been able to showcase his domestic form against Australia ‘A’. He was dismissed for a duck on Thursday.
Could then there be that outside chance of Jurel being asked to open with Jaiswal? The chances of that happening are minuscule, but where Jurel might have a better hope to get in is the middle order, replacing Sarfaraz Khan.
Barring his 150 in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test, Sarfaraz didn’t do anything of note with the bat in the remaining five innings he played against the Kiwis, aggregating 171 runs at an average of 28.50 in the end.
Add to that Sarfaraz’s brittle temperament — which the Aussies might play on with an odd sledge. That could make Jurel an ideal replacement with runs under his belt at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Jurel made his Test debut in the Rajkot Test against England and has so far played 3 Tests, scoring 190 runs in four innings at an average of 63.33 with a highest of 90.
Coming back to the match, India ‘A’ were bowled out for 161 and the Aussies reached 53 for 2 when stumps were drawn at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.