Cool customer: Jurel came out in flying colours with the bat under pressure on a tough pitch.
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK
Dhruv Jurel shot into national limelight in the summer of 2023 when he starred for IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals (RR) as a finisher. Though a wicketkeeper primarily, he barely kept for RR and excelled as an Impact Player, totalling 152 runs at a strike-rate of 172.72.
Little did anyone expect his first International match to be in Tests — despite having kept for Uttar Pradesh in 12 Ranji Trophy games — and that too after beating competition from the likes of K.S. Bharat, Ishan Kishan and K.L. Rahul.
On Sunday, the Uttar Pradesh cricketer, who debuted in Rajkot, repaid the team-management’s trust by scoring 90 fine runs (149b, 6×4, 4×6) — after having come in at 161 for five on Saturday — and showcasing some safe, clutter-free wicketkeeping.
He was on the field nearly all day and impressed with his levels of concentration. Sunil Gavaskar, on commentary, even compared Jurel’s presence of mind to that of M.S. Dhoni.
“There is hard work, but I believe in visualisation,” Jurel said. “Whichever match or series, I start preparations one or two weeks prior by looking at the bowling line-up. I play out the scenarios.”
“I visualised the bowlers; [James] Anderson, Mark Wood, [Tom] Hartley or whoever. I watch their videos of where they bowl and how I can hit them.”
This is probably why Jurel looked compact both in defence and attack. While he displayed some dogged batting until he reached his half-century, he was expansive in the second-half, almost resembling the batter who was a rage in the IPL.
“In the IPL, the demands are different. You come in with say 15 balls left and I cannot be defending there. Here [Ranchi] the situation required me to bat long and I cannot do that by just hitting. There is risk involved. So I focused on spending time at the wicket.”
“The pitch had low bounce. So runs stopped coming square of the wicket. I felt I had to play straight. I kept it in my subconscious mind. Whatever shot I hit, I hit it straight.”