Former India batsman Aakash Chopra has praised wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who made his Test debut during the five-match home Test series against England. Jurel earned his first cap in the third Test at Rajkot, scoring 46 in a match that ended as India’s biggest red-ball win by 434 runs. The 23-year-old also amassed 90 runs in the second innings of the fourth Test, which Chopra said was the turning point.

Aakash Chopra, speaking in his latest YouTube video, claimed that Dhruv Jurel’s 90-run knock at the JSCA Stadium in Ranchi was the defining moment for India. Chopra believes the series would have ended with a 2-2 draw instead of a 4-1 win, if not for the innings Jurel played from the number 7 position.

Aakash Chopra praises Jurel’s heroics in fourth Test

India were in a difficult situation when Jurel retired to bat. The hosts had lost the entire batting order cheaply and Yashavi Jaiswal became the only one that day to have a score of 50+ in the top order. The hosts were at 171/6 when Jurel arrived and when he left the crease as India’s last wicket, the score was at 307.

That was quite a notable turnaround from the 23-year-old who was playing in just his second international Test match. Dhruv Jurel’s entry was a matter of patience, balance and determination to keep his team in the game after the initial scare. That’s what Aakash Chopra believes was a blow that kept the series in India’s favor, otherwise it would have been 2-2.

“At number 5 I have Dhruv Jurel. The knock he played in Ranchi, if that 90-run knock hadn’t come, you would have been 2-2. If you were 2-2, no one knows what could have happened in Dharamshala,” Aakash Chopra said in his latest YouTube video.

Then later in the fourth innings, when India were asked to chase down 192 to win, Jurel was faced with the task once again. After a commanding start, the Indians fell from 84/1 to 120/5. Some might have thought it was the beginning of England’s fairytale comeback, but Jurel teamed up with Shubman Gill for a 72-run partnership.

It was enough for India to claim victory by 5 wickets and that finally marked a 17th consecutive red-ball series win for India since 2012. Dhruv Jurel was also adjudged man of the match for his 90 and 39*. That moment, according to Aakash Chopra, was one of the top 5 moments for India in the series.

“Dhruv Jurel batted with his tail, fast bowled well and also hit a lot of big shots. His contribution in the second innings was also extremely crucial. So I have kept Dhruv Jurel’s incredible Man of the Match performance at number 5,” Chopra concluded.

Dhruv Jurel gets C grade central contract

With his appearance in the fifth Test match in Dharamshala, Dhruv Jurel has been automatically included in Grade C of the BCCI’s annual player retainers for calendar year 2024. He will be joined by teammate Sarfaraz Khan as both They debuted in the same match and played the minimum criterion of 3 tests.