IND vs BAN: Dhruv Jurel superior to Rishabh Pant? Ex-India star hails 23-year-old

Former India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta has showered rich praise on the 23-year-old Dhruv Jurel ahead of the IND vs BAN two-match Test series.

Dhruv Jurel, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, made his Test debut on February 15, 2024, against the England National Cricket Team in Rajkot.

In his maiden Test outing, the wicketkeeper-batsman scored 46 runs in the only innings he got the opportunity. However, his best came in the Ranchi Test as he slammed a sensational 90 runs in the first innings to help India fight back and then scored an unbeaten 39 runs in the next innings.

Overall, Dhruv Jurel has scored 190 runs for India in 3 Test matches. He has scored his runs at an average of 63.33. Behind the stumps, he has taken 5 catches and has inflicted 2 stumpings.

Jurel has been picked in the India squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, and he will be up against Rishabh Pant for a slot in the playing XI. Reportedly, the team management has locked in on Pant as the first-choice Test keeper, considering his experience and past heroics.

Also Read: IND vs BAN: KL Rahul, Axar Patel snubbed as Brad Hogg picks India XI for 1st Test

I won't be surprised if Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel and KL Rahul all three of them play - Deep Dasgupta

In a recent interaction with India Today, Deep Dasgupta spoke about the Test series between India and Bangladesh. He picked his India playing XI and went with Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill as the top 3 and picked Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant as the next three batters while keeping the No.7 spot open for a batter.

Deep Dasgupta further picked Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as two all-rounders and kept the last two spots open for pace bowlers.

"Your XI, Yashasvi and Rohit to open. Shubman at No. 3, Virat Kohli at No. 4. KL Rahul at No. 5. Rishabh Pant at No. 6. Then maybe you can play another batter. 8 and 9 you have Jadeja and Ashwin. And then No. 10 and No. 11, you have two seamers. Off late, what I have noticed is that a lot of batters have started bowling in the nets and stuff like that. If you want, you can go in with four bowlers and your part-timers can give you a few overs," Dasgupta said.

Deep Dasgupta added that the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel could be slotted in the middle-order with the latter being more competent to play in Australian conditions.

"You can think of someone like Sarfaraz for the middle-order. Even for that matter... Dhruv Jurel batted beautifully. Yeah, I won't be surprised if Rishabh, Dhruv and KL all three of them play. The other thing you have to keep in mind is the Australia series. You can also look at other options, but the way Dhruv batted, his technique and composure, I think he is more adept at batting in Australia than some of the other newcomers.

"That's a call that the management has to take, whether to go in with 7 batters or 6 batters," he added.