Indian National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, 23, who is Rishabh Pant’s biggest competitor in the Test team, has heaped praise on captain Rohit Sharma ahead of the Test series against Bangladesh National Cricket Team.
India will soon host Bangladesh for the first time in a Test series since the pink-ball Test in November 2019. The first Test will be played from September 19 in Chennai, and the second Test will be played from September 27 in Kanpur.
India is reportedly planning to lay a red-dirt pitch for the Test series, which will open up the possibility of the home team fielding more than two players.
India’s starting XI for the upcoming Test series is expected to feature major changes from the team that fielded against England earlier in the year as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant have all returned to the lineup.
Rishabh Pant’s return will come as a blow to young wicket-keeper batsman Dhruv Jurel, who is reportedly set to be dropped by the team management despite his heroics in the England series.
You realise he is picking the deliveries you are battling well: Dhruv Jurel praises GOAT Rohit Sharma
Speaking ahead of the Test series, Dhruv Jurel spoke about Rohit Sharma’s excellent timing of shots. Notably, several pundits have claimed that the Indian captain has one and a half seconds more than the rest to watch the ball and execute his shots.
Dhruv Jurel said that Rohit Sharma has the ability to receive the balls very well, something that other batsmen struggle with.
“When I watch it on TV it seems like a long time, but when I see it from the front I realise that we are fighting for the ball, they pick it up easily. The jump shot is so famous that it belongs to my brother. He is the GOAT.
“(When I saw him on TV, we thought he had a lot of time, but when you see him batting live, you realise that the pitches you have difficulty against, he picks them very well. Everyone knows his famous pull shot),” Jurel was quoted as saying by JioCinema by News18.
Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel made his Test debut on February 15, 2024, against the England National Cricket Team in Rajkot. He scored an impressive 46 runs in his first Test innings for India. However, his best performance came in the Ranchi Test, where he scored a remarkable 90 runs in the first innings to help India fight back and then scored an unbeaten 39 runs in the second innings.
In total, Dhruv Jurel, Rishabh Pant’s biggest rival, has scored 190 runs for India in 3 Test matches at an average of 63.33. Also, with the gloves on his hands, he has taken 5 catches and inflicted 2 knocks.
Recently, Jurel also made a big revelation about how Rohit Sharma calmed his nerves ahead of the Test debut with an unfiltered motivational talk, where he told the youngster to play his shots with full confidence.