Dhruv Jurel settles wicketkeeping debate in Ind vs Eng 4th Test | Cricket News

His exhortations, punctuated by the constant shouts of “chalo bhaiyo” suggested something magical was around the corner. Jurel had reasons to feel optimistic, given that this son of a Kargil warrior from Uttar Pradesh had a few hours earlier marked his territory as the team’s definite choice wicketkeeper-batsman, scoring a compact 90 in difficult circumstances in just his second Test.

For someone who is just 16 First-Class matches old, Jurel had played time, shelved the horizontal bats which are his bread and butter in the IPL, shepherded the tail and yet showed he would not be merciful on the loose deliveries. It was the kind of game-changing innings from a No. 7 wicketkeeper-batsman the team had been craving for.

After all, it isn’t every day that the likes of Joe Root and Ben Stokes walk up to console you when you have just missed a debut ton. “No batsman is naturally aggressive,” Jurel said after the day’s play. “In the IPL, every time I walk out to bat the situation demands that I score 35-40 runs off 11 or so balls. I can’t defend there.
“The situation here was that I had to bat long. I can’t do that by keeping on hitting. I just spent as much time at the wicket as I could. It has been my dream to play Test cricket. This was a pitch with low bounce, so I played straight. Even the boundaries were straight hits.”

Perhaps it is apt that India have unearthed another rough gem in the land of MS Dhoni, for Jurel showed he has the smarts behind the stumps too, apart from one missed stumping which luckily didn’t prove costly. The lead-up to this Test has been dominated by talk of predecessor KS Bharat’s lack of contributions with the bat, and that is a debate which appears to have been settled, at least for now.
Like the other Indian debutants in this series, Jurel too is no stranger to early hardship, therefore capable of the tireless hard work, bordering on obsession, which is required to gain entry into the top echelons of any sport. He also believes in smart preparation and offered a rare peek into his personal work ethic, something most Indian cricketers are loath to share.

“Hard work is one thing but I am a big believer in visualization, in manifestation,” he said. “I start preparing a week or two ahead of any important assignment. For this series, I looked at the bowling lineups, how I can play them. I recreate the entire scenario. There was James Anderson, Mark Wood, Tom Hartley. I saw their videos, the areas where they bowled, and understood how I could take them on.”
It is this clarity of thought which was on view even when he was keeping, though he remains a work in progress. “It’s my debut series. There is pressure. Keeping to these spinners is a challenge because not only are they world-class, their bowling style is a bit different. It is tough but I like new challenges. Challenges are fun.”
Of course, given the match situation, Jurel had got over the disappointment of missing a ton by stumps. His father would have liked the ‘salute’ celebration he had wanted. “I spoke to him last night and he said, ‘Beta ek baar salute to dikha de,” a beaming Jurel said. A win here, of course, will be the real balm for missing out on the century.