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Slowly but steadily, the emergence of Dhruv Jurel is taking Rishabh Pant completely out of the selection picture for the Indian cricket team in the white-ball formats. While Pant remains a key part of the Tests, he is not near the selectors' scheme for the other two formats of the game.
During a recent YouTube podcast with the former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra, Dhruv Jurel explained his personal relationship with Rishabh Pant. Ahead of India's ODI and T20I series against West Indies at home, Jurel made multiple revelations about his personal opinion on Pant.
"He is like my elder brother": Dhruv Jurel opens up about Rishabh Pant
In the podcast with Aakash Chopra, Jurel claimed that he is always a big fan of Pant, as the latter has been a fantastic player in Test cricket, especially in SENA countries. He also asked Pant about the secret of being successful away from home.
"He is like my elder brother. It’s been almost three years since we’ve been playing together in the team, and I really enjoy it. I’ve learned a lot of things from him. Especially when it comes to overseas cricket, I used to ask him, “Bhaiya, you’ve been so successful overseas. What did you do?”So, I’ve learned a lot from him, and I really enjoy spending time with him."
"I’m a huge fan of his": Dhruv Jurel is a fan of Rishabh Pant
Dhruv Jurel also states that when both of them are playing for India, they try to win matches for the side. He praises Rishabh Pant's overseas performance as he witnessed the atmosphere away from home.
"And when it comes to competition, it has never really felt like that. Both of us are playing for India, and whoever helps the team win a match, that’s what matters. Now that we are playing together in the same team, it feels really good," Dhruv Jurel said.
"I’m a huge fan of his. He is a terrific player. What he has done for India, especially by going overseas and performing, is something very special. I’ve also played overseas, so I’ve seen what the atmosphere is like there."
"And when you score runs there, you get a different kind of respect. When you see someone score a century overseas, it’s really special. That inspires me. I think, “I want to do something like that too," he added.
Rishabh Pant is neither in India's ODI squad nor in the T20I squad
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was forced to select two different sets of players for the clash of schedules. When the Shubman Gill-led team will be engaged with the West Indies cricket team at home for the white-ball format series, another set of players, led by Shreyas Iyer, will be busy playing the 2026 Asian Games, which is another Twenty20 format event.
So, the selectors crafted two T20I teams and one ODI squad for two different competitions. For the Asian Games, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee named Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan as the keeper-batters, and for the ODIs against the Caribbean, they named KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel as the two keeper-batters.
Has Rishabh Pant's white-ball career ended?
In the lead-up to the 2027 ODI World Cup, each bilateral ODI series will be crucial for the Indian cricket team as it will help them in preparations and provide the selectors the much-needed hints on whom to select and whom to drop from the ODI World Cup squad. The players who are in the One Day International squad are a clear indication that they are in contention for the flagship event.
Rishabh Pant is always considered the x-factor because of his unpredictable batting approach. In the past, there were multiple instances when Pant changed the direction of matches through his batting. Multiple injuries and lack of consistency never allowed the keeper-batter to reach his true potential.
