Given their recent struggles with the bat, should India play Dhruv Jurel as a specialist batsman in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy? It is a question that would continue to grow given how well the young batsman adjusted to the bounce and movement during India A’s match against Australia A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
From the moment Jurel announced his arrival during the Test series against England earlier this year, his temperament has stood out. Many in the team management admire Jurel’s ability not just as a batsman, but also how he goes about his game. And sent to Australia early to get acclimatised to the conditions, he responded with 80 and 68 at the MCG.
With Rohit Sharma still not certain for the Perth Test, the intra-squad practice match is all that India have to finalise their XI for the first Test. And should Jurel continue to impress, he should make it as a specialist batsman in the middle-order. Such a move could mean Sarfaraz Khan misses out and the Mumbaikar could feel hard done by, but India are now in a position where they can’t afford to start badly as a fourth-straight Test defeat could lower their confidence further.
India’s Dhruv Jurel in action. (Reuters)
Having presented India easy opening matches in their previous two tours which they won by a 2-1 margin, Australia have decided to play the first Test at Perth this time around. And the local curator at the new Optus stadium, has already hinted at a fast and bouncy pitch which will greet India. So it’s possible that by the time the visitors get their combination right, they could end up having paid a heavy price.
So starting the tour with in-form batsmen holds the key particularly when the likes of Rohit, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul are all struggling for runs. With Abhimanyu Easwaran also not impressing in the A matches, Jurel could well turn out to be a surprise package. Such off-field, inspired moves often tend to work if introduced at the right time and given Jurel’s form, Perth would be an ideal place to start.
Even former Australia captain Tim Paine, who coached Australia A in that match where Jurel scored the runs, said he was hugely impressed by the 23-year-old’s technique. So far in his brief Test career Jurel has scores of 46, 90, 39 not out and 15 and though a century is missing, his runs have all come at crucial junctures.
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