When India played their last home red-ball series against England earlier this year, in the absence of Rishabh Pant and due to the struggle of KS Bharat, the 23-year-old wicket-keeper batter from Uttar Pradesh, Dhruv Jurel, made his debut for the national side and played an incredible knock of 90 runs in his second game in Ranchi.
He is back in the Test squad for the first Test against Bangladesh in Chennai, but with the return of Pant, there is no confirmation whether Dhruv Jurel will keep his place in the team despite a great start in his career.
The right-handed batter, who was named the ‘Player of the Match’ during the fourth game with a first-inning knock of 90 runs and an unbeaten 38 runs in the second innings, has now collected 190 runs in four innings at an average of 63.33 and a strike rate of 53.67.
“This is not your game”- Dhruv Jurel remembers the sledding of James Anderson
India was under a little bit of pressure in the game, having already given away 353 runs in England’s first innings with the bat, before finding themselves 161/5 when Dhruv Jurel walked into the middle. They soon boiled down to 177/7 in 55.2 overs and were in a threat of conceding a huge innings lead.
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The Agra-born was just playing his second game of the format, and with no such experience in his court, it was expected to be hard work. But, he showed great resilience in his game, with incredible concentration and defense.
During a recent chat with Jatin Sapru on his YouTube Channel, Dhruv Jurel recalled the first innings, where they lost three wickets, in a space of ten overs for just 16 runs to go seven down in the blink of an eye. With him making a cautious start in his innings, the veteran England bowler, James Anderson, questioned his style of batting.
“The next match was in Ranchi. Everything was going well, and suddenly, a flurry of wickets fell. England players were relaxed and were playing for fun.” The 23-year-old looked back during the conversation. “Then Anderson came to me and said, ‘I’ve seen your videos, this is not your game.‘ That was because I was defending a lot and taking singles. I thought of giving it back but realized that I should wait, score a few runs, and then maybe he would be quiet.”
The youngster put up a 76-run partnership for the eighth wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to pull the game in their favor and eventually carried the team to 307 in their first innings. At one position, things could have turned out to be a nightmare.
“Then I thought I should rather play positively than take a cautious approach, and hence decided to take on Shoaib Bashir. I knew nothing could stop me if he bowled in the slot. And then I had that partnership with Kuldeep.” Dhruv Jurel remarked.
A couple of years ago, Joe Root was part of the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, and when the former England captain started to chirp, it took the wicket-keeper batter by surprise.
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“I could not sleep that night. I was not out on 30. I was making plans for the next day, thinking whether I should try to get the half-century with the old ball because a few overs were still left or against the new ball.” The Indian batter shared.
“Given the British accent, I did not understand half of those words. Even Bairstow and Joe Root joined. I was shocked because Root used to play with me in IPL, and I asked him, ‘Why are you sledding me?‘ He replied: ‘We are all playing for our country now.’ Dhruv Jurel concluded.