Batsman Dhruv Jurel, who recently rose to fame with his batting performances and clever glove work during England’s tour of India for a five-match Test series, spoke about how Rohit Sharma treats youngsters.
Jurel was among the 5 players who were given debut Test internationals in the series which the Indians won 4-1 and was tasked by the Rahul Dravid-led team management to do well as KS Bharat’s replacement.
Dhruv Jurel turned out to be a Test series player, who made an instant impact with his performances. Jurel, who made his debut in the third Test in Rajkot, did not disappoint Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid as in his first innings in international red-ball cricket, the youngster scored 46 runs.
He had an important role to play alongside fellow debutant Sarfaraz Khan, Rohit, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and of course the 3rd Test man of the match Ravindra Jadeja.
Dhruv Jurel’s first test series as it unfolded
In his second Test match, which was the fourth of the series in Ranchi, Dhruv Jurel’s role in the batting order became even more imperative. As India tried to respond strongly to England’s first innings total of 353, the hosts were 177/7 in the 55th over.
However, Jurel, who came in at number 7, had formed two important partnerships with Kuldeep Yadav and another debutant, right-arm pacer Akash Deep. His efforts and the resilience of those behind took India from 177 to 307, with Jurel scoring 90 alone.
Then in the fourth innings, during their chase of 192 for victory, India once again found themselves in a difficult situation.
After a good start from Rohit Sharma (55) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (37), the Indians suffered a top- and middle-order collapse with Rajat Patidar, Ravindra Jadeja and Sarfaraz Khan getting out for 0, 4 and 0 at number 3. Batsman Shubman Gill keeps an eye on falling wickets.
Gill needed solid support from the next batsman and there, Dhruv Jurel stepped forward once again. The latter had a composed exit and let Gill do most of the damage while he continued to rotate the punch.
Gill and Jurel’s 72-run partnership eventually became a match as well as a series winner as India from 120-5 claimed victory by 5 wickets. Jurel was rewarded with the player of the match award for his 90 and 39* off 77 balls.
What did Jurel say about Rohit Sharma?
While speaking exclusively to Sportstar Hindu, Dhruv Jurel, when asked to talk about Rohit Sharma’s impact, stated that he treats his youngsters like younger brothers off the field.
However, on the field and during working hours, Jurel revealed that Rohit is quite strict and asked everyone to watch the viral videos of the Test series against England.
“Off the field, Rohit bhai treats us like his younger brothers, but on the field, he is quite strict, and those videos that have gone viral indicate how strictly he manages the youngsters. Rohit bhai is fun to be around, as you can see. learn so much from him.” – Jurel told Sportstar Hindu.