Young Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who hasn’t played a Test match since the return if Rishabh Pant to International cricket on Thursday, November 7, makes a strong case for selection in India’s playing eleven for the first Test Against Australia with 80 runs scored for India A in the ongoing second unofficial Test against Australia A at Melbourne cricket ground.
Dhruv, who made his Test debut for India on 15th February, 2024 in Rajkot, was included in the India A team on Wednesday (November 6), after which he came in for Ishan Kishan in the playing XI. Dhruv came out to bat at Number 6 for the Ruturaj Gaikwad led side on Day 1 of the second match and batted for a total of 186 balls during his innings
His super show with the bat saved the Indian cause, which had suffered a collapse at 11 for 4 in 2.4 overs and led them to post a total of 161 runs in the first inning.
While it’s even harsh to assume that Jurel can peep a chance in wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh pant’s position, he can be tried in the squad as a pure batter. Even in the few chances that Jruel has had to don the Indian colors, as history stands, he has been very brilliant, which is why he was once again retained for Rs 14 Crore by his IPL team Rajasthan Royals before the IPL 2025 mega auction.
One other player in Jurel’s class, KL Rahul, was also included in the India A team but for the second unofficial test, and the 32-year-old right-handed batsman could crash only four runs off four balls.
Rahul opened the innings of India A along with Abhimanyu Easwaran. He was however back in the pavilion, courtesy of Scott Boland, in the very second over.
Rahul, who did not play in India’s last two Tests where he was a part of the three-match series held against New Zealand recently, is competing with Easwaran for the position of an opening partner to Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Rohit Sharma, the captain of Team India, will likely be unavailable for the first ODI match at Optus Stadium in Perth starting November 22 onwards on account of personal reasons.
Similar to Rahul, Easwaran too, had a miserable display with the bat on Thursday and in fact, he even failed to open his account as well.
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