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Dhruv Jurel is making a strong case for himself to be included in India’s playing XI for the first Test against South Africa as a specialist batter. The right-hander scored back-to-back centuries in India A’s second unofficial Test against South Africa A, and the pressure is firmly on skipper Shubman Gill and head coach Gautam Gambhir to make a place for him. Jurel played in the series against the West Indies in the absence of Rishabh Pant, but since the latter has recovered from his injury, the youngster’s place is in limbo.
However, Jurel is doing whatever he can as he returned with scores of 132* and 127* in the second unofficial Test. Former India wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel believes that the 24-year-old has done enough to warrant a place in the lineup.
Jurel’s numbers are significantly better than Sai Sudharsan, who has failed to leave a mark at the No.3 spot. The left-hander even failed in the India A game against South Africa A, returning with scores of 17 and 23.
“Whether it was against the West Indies or wherever and whichever position Jurel has gotten to bat in, he has scored runs. The only thing is the combination you want to play with. If your combination is that you want to play an all-rounder, then he might not get a place,” Parthiv said on Star Sports.
“However, if you want to play a pure batter, Dhruv Jurel can play there, and this management has already shown that kind of confidence in Dhruv Jurel once. He played as a batter in Perth. Although India won that Test match, he didn’t get a chance after that. I feel Dhruv Jurel has done enough to be considered as a batter in the Test team,” he added.
Competition with Nitish Kumar Reddy
For the first Test against the Temba Bavuma-led South Africa, Parthiv believes Jurel is in for a fight with Nitish Kumar Reddy and it will boil down to whether the management wants to have an extra bowling option at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul will open. Sai Sudharsan will be at No. 3, Shubman Gill at No. 4, and then you will see Rishabh Pant playing at No. 5. The No. 6 position is slightly tricky. Otherwise, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah,” Parthiv said.
“There will be only one question for India, and that will be at No. 6, whether you want to play Nitish Reddy or Dhruv Jurel. It will be an early start in Kolkata. So can Nitish Reddy play the role of the third seamer? Then you can use Nitish Reddy with two seamers, and three spinners will come in the second innings,” he added.
Even in the series against the West Indies, Jurel smashed a century in the opening Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad while Sudharsan returned with a score of 87 in the second Test.
Sudharsan also had an underwhelming series with the bat against England earlier this year.
