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Jurel replaced Ishan Kishan in India A’s playing XI for the second unofficial Test against Australia A and scored 80 and 62 runs in the two innings.
Ex-Australia captain Tim Paine is impressed with Dhruv Jurel’s batting for India A. (Picture Credit: AFP)
Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel was part of the India A playing XI in the second unofficial Test played against Australia A at Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the match, which the hosts won by six wickets, 23-year-old Jurel top-scored for India A in both innings. He hammered 80 runs from 186 balls in the first inning and scored 68 runs from 122 balls in the second. With his twin fifties, Jurel, who last played a Test match for India in March 2024 against England, has made a case for his selection in India’s playing XI for the first Test of the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia.
Former Australia captain Tim Paine, who closely followed the match at MCG, was impressed with Jurel’s batting and reserved big praise for the youngster. According to him, Jurel is going to impress a lot of Australian fans with his performances in the 2024-25 edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and he will be disappointed if he doesn’t get a chance to play.
“There’s a guy who has kept wickets in a few Test matches for India. He averages 63 out of the three Tests he’s played, and his name is Dhruv Jurel,” Paine said on SEN Tassie.
“I don’t know if you saw much of the highlights (of the 2nd unofficial Test), but after seeing him bat (against Australia A)—even though he’s a wicketkeeper, from what I’ve seen on this tour and from India’s batting in the last couple of months, I’d be staggered if he doesn’t play.”
“He scored one of the more polished 80s I’ve seen, and we were all sitting around as staff of Cricket Australia and thought, ‘Wow, this guy can seriously play’,” he added.
According to Paine, who suffered back-to-back defeats as Australian captain in the last two Test series played against India in Australia, Jurel is the one to look out for, and he has everything in him to do well in Tests.
“Keep an eye out for him this summer. I think he’s going to impress a lot of Australian fans. Even though it’s going to be another step up against the big three (Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood), he looks like he has the game to play Test cricket,” Paine said.
Since making his Test debut for Team India on February 15, 2024, against England in Rajkot, Jurel has played three matches, and with the help of one fifty, he has 190 runs to his name in four innings.
