Jos Buttler to be benched in IPL 2024? Sunil Gavaskar opens up on Dhruv Jurel's batting position for Rajasthan Royals

Former India batsman Sunil Gavaskar has urged the Rajasthan Royals team management to promote wicket-keeper batsman Dhruv Jurel in their batting order for the upcoming IPL 2024 edition. Gavaskar made this claim about Jurel while speaking at a recently held event organized by IPL’s official TV broadcaster Star Sports after watching the youngster closely during the 5-match Test series against England.

Dhruv Jurel, who made his debut in Test cricket at the expense of KS Bharat’s dismissal from the Indian playing XI, played a pivotal role in India’s 4-1 series win. Jurel earned his maiden Test cap in the 3rd Test at Rajkot after Bharat was disappointed with his performances in the first two Tests in Hyderabad and Vishakhapatnam. India had lost the 1st Test by 28 runs but leveled the series in Vizag with a 106-run victory.

Gavaskar says Dhruv Jurel deserves a promotion in the top-order

While speaking at that Star Sports event, Gavaskar heaped praise on Dhruv Jurel for his batting performance throughout the Test series and also for his performance in the previous IPL edition. The 23-year-old, who made his IPL debut for Rajasthan Royals last year, had mainly appeared in the lower-middle order, either at number 6 or 7.

From that position, Dhruv Jurel scored 152 runs from 13 league matches by maintaining a daunting strike rate of 172.73 as Rajasthan Royals finished 5th in the points table. With all that in mind, Sunil Gavaskar is seriously wanting to see Jurel push up in the order.

“Dhruv Jurel can be that person definitely. The way he has batted this year and the way he batted in the IPL last IPL, he can definitely get a promotion up the order.” – Gavaskar said via Star Sports event.

This was not the first time that Gavaskar heaped praise on Jurel for his batting performance as he had previously made positive comments about him when he shuns during the Test series against England. The 23-year-old was a key figure in India’s 5-wicket win in the 4th Test match at Ranchi’s JSCA stadium last month.

Dhruv Jurel had scored a very good and a much-needed 90 runs off 149 deliveries during India’s 1st innings and his knock came right when India needed it the most. The hosts were in a difficult situation after losing 7 wickets for 177 in their response to England’s 1st innings total of 307.

Jurel’s knock saw India remain relevant in the game and finish the first innings with 307 runs on the board. In the 4th innings when England asked the Indians to chase down 192 for the win, the Agra-born batter had taken over with Shubman Gill after India lost 5 wickets for 120 by standing for a 72-run partnership.

Gill (52) and Dhruv Jurel’s (39) efforts ensured India claimed victory and also won their 17th straight home Test series win since 2012. That was perhaps a very good sign for Rohit Sharma’s side, who can now count on the player in the upcoming assignments and especially during foreign tours.

Rajasthan Royals full squad for IPL 2024