IND vs BAN: Rohit Sharma is GOAT - Rishabh Pant’s biggest rival butters up India captain

The 23-year-old India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who is the biggest competitor of Rishabh Pant in the Test team, has lavished high praise on the skipper Rohit Sharma ahead of the Test series against Bangladesh National Cricket Team.

India will soon be hosting Bangladesh for the first time in a Test series since the pink-ball Test in November 2019. The first Test will be played from September 19 in Chennai, and the second Test will be played from September 27 in Kanpur.

Reportedly, India are planning to lay out a red-soil pitch for the Test series, which will open up the possibility of the home team fielding more than two pacers.

The playing XI of India for the upcoming Test series is set to see major changes from the team, which was fielded against England earlier in the year, as Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant have returned to the setup.

Rishabh Pant's return will be a blow for the young wicketkeeper-batsman Dhruv Jurel, who is reportedly set to be dropped by the team management despite his heroics in the England series.

You realise that the deliveries you are struggling against, he’s picking them nicely - Dhruv Jurel hails GOAT Rohit Sharma

Speaking ahead of the Test series, Dhruv Jurel spoke about Rohit Sharma's excellent timing of shots. Notably, several experts have claimed that the Indian captain gets one-and-a-half seconds more than everyone else to watch the ball and play his shots.

Dhruv Jurel said that Rohit Sharma has the ability to pick up the deliveries nicely, which the other batters struggle against.

“Jub TV par dekhte the lagta tha bohot time hai (lagta tha) but jub saamne say dekha toh pata chal ki jis ball par hum struggle kar rahe hain, wo aaram say pick up kar rahe hain. Pull shot toh famous hai he bhaiya ka. He’s the GOAT.

"(When I watched him on TV, we thought he’s got a lot of time but when you watch him bat live, you realise that the deliveries you are struggling against, he’s picking them nicely. Everybody knows about his famous pull shot),” Jurel said on JioCinema, as quoted by News18.

Meanwhile, Dhruv Jurel made his Test debut on February 15, 2024, against the England National Cricket Team in Rajkot. He scored an impressive 46 runs in his first Test innings for India. However, his best came in the Ranchi Test as he slammed a remarkable 90 runs in the first innings to help India fight back and then scored an unbeaten 39 runs in the second innings.

Overall, Dhruv Jurel, who is the biggest rival of Rishabh Pant, has scored 190 runs for India in 3 Test matches at an average of 63.33. Also, with the gloves in his hands, he has taken 5 catches and has inflicted 2 stumpings.

Recently, Jurel also made a massive revelation on how Rohit Sharma settled his nerves before the Test debut with an unfiltered pep-talk, where he told the youngster to play his shots with full confidence.