Dhruv Jurel, in the first Test against the West Indies, has scored his maiden Test century. Additionally, he has also played some timely knocks for the Indian side, and the one that brought him the limelight is his 90-run innings against England in 2024 at Ranchi, which helped the hosts pull off an unlikely win. However, with the current combination, the Indian side plays with there is only one spot which Jurel can fit into the side, which is in place of all rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Former Indian cricketer Parthiv Patel, predicting the playing XI for the first Test between South Africa and India, raised the same conundrum and gave his opinion.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul will open. Sai Sudharsan will be at No. 3, Shubman Gill at No. 4, and then you will see Rishabh Pant playing at No. 5. The No. 6 position is slightly tricky. Otherwise, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah,” he said on Star Sports.
“There will be only one question for India, and that will be at No. 6, whether you want to play Nitish Reddy or Dhruv Jurel. It will be an early start in Kolkata. So can Nitish Reddy play the role of the third seamer? Then you can use Nitish Reddy with two seamers, and three spinners will come in the second innings,” the former India wicketkeeper-batter added.
“Whether it was against the West Indies or wherever and whichever position Jurel has gotten to bat in, he has scored runs. The only thing is the combination you want to play with. If your combination is that you want to play an all-rounder, then he might not get a place,” he said.
“However, if you want to play a pure batter, Dhruv Jurel can play there, and this management has already shown that kind of confidence in Dhruv Jurel once. He played as a batter in Perth. Although India won that Test match, he didn’t get a chance after that. I feel Dhruv Jurel has done enough to be considered as a batter in the Test team,” Parthiv observed.
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