Dhruv Jurel (PTI Photo)
KOLKATA: Given Dhruv Jurel’s current form, it will be a surprise if he does not play in the forthcoming Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens here from Friday. In fact, even India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate would be quite surprised.“I don’t think you can leave him (Jurel) out for this Test, is the short answer,” ten Doeschate said when asked about Jurel’s run of form.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“But obviously, you can only pick one XI as well, so someone else will miss out. Given the way Dhruv has gone about in the last six months, with two centuries in Bengaluru last week (unbeaten 132 and 127 against South Africa ‘A’), he is certain to play this week.” Jurel has four centuries in his last eight innings.“We have a pretty good idea about the combination (for the Eden Test). For me (spinners) Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are also three batters and that does give us a lot of flexibility. But I’d be very surprised if Dhruv and Rishabh (Pant) don’t play this week.”
With Pant almost certain to keep wickets, that effectively seals a middle order batter’s slot for Jurel. Considering the circumstances, Nitish Kumar Reddy has been released from the first Test squad and now will join the ‘A’ team for the OneDayers against South Africa ‘A’ in Rajkot. All three List A games (50 overs) will be played in Rajkot on Nov 13, 16 and 19. If required, Reddy will again link up with the squad in Guwahati for the second Test.Reddy is someone India are grooming for the future, but ten Doeschate iterated that strategy comes first and for that sake, if someone has to sit out, it’s unfortunate but unavoidable. “The primary thing is to set out a strategy to win the game, and then if you can accommodate giving guys a chance for development, that comes in,” ten Doeschate said. “Our position certainly hasn’t changed on Nitish. He didn’t get much game time in Australia (white-ball series) but I’d say, given the importance of the series and given the conditions we think we’re going to face, he might miss out in this Test this week.”
How soon will the pitch take turn?Doeschate and South Africa coach Shukri Conrad were unanimous in their assessment of the wicket — pacers will have a role to play early on but the turf is sure to offer spin as the game progresses.“The only question is how soon will it turn,” Conrad wondered. Three spinners and two pacers would be the ideal bowling combination and both sides have quality in both the departments. In fact, South Africa’s spin attack might throw up a surprise or two.“We feel we have a better pack of spinners now in Keshav (Maharaj), Simon (Harmer) and Sen (Senuran Muthusamy) and it gives us a lot of confidence. We feel that we have the armory to challenge India in that respect as well,” he added.Problem of plenty for IndiaIndia, of course, have their own arsenal and might, in fact, end up with a problem of plenty. If the strategy calls for batting depth till No. 9 and the three spinning allrounders are included, Kuldeep Yadav could be forced to sit out. However, if included, the left-arm spinner could prove lethal in the later stages on this wicket.Kuldeep, despite his mastery with the ball, has played just 15 Tests so far since his debut in 2017. In this duration, India have played 85 Tests. Talking about pacers, both ten Doeschate and Conrad agreed that the Eden Gardens would have something to offer the seamers. “I’d expect fast bowlers to have an impact on the game in the first couple of days at least,” Conrad said. “From the looks of the wicket, it appears that it will turn later,” ten Doeschate echoed Conrad. “We are going to rely on our seamers to make early inroads in the first couple of days.”The signs are thus encouraging for the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj and Marco Jansen, at least to begin with. “I do think spin is going to be important on this pitch in the long run,” ten Doeschate added. Jadeja, Sundar, Maharaj and Harmar also have a lot to look forward to.
