Dhruv Jurel outshone several of his India A teammates and has built a strong case for himself to bat in the middle order when the senior team will take on Australia in Perth later this month for the first of the five-match Test series.
Jurel notched up two half centuries – both after he walked into bat amidst a top order collapse – during India A’s second unofficial match against Australia A at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne.
The 23-year-old scored 80 off 186 balls in the first innings when he took guard with the score reading 11/4 inside first three overs of the match, and then hit 68 off 122 balls in the second innings after India A was struggling at 44/4.
Both innings saw the wicketkeeper-batter soak in the pressure, show composure and display his solid technique – playing the ball under his eyes with soft hands – to take his team out of a difficult situation.
Playing at a ground as big as the MCG, Jurel displayed range of strokes including well-timed pulls and upper cuts while also driving the ball on the up. Favourable bowling conditions for the most part of the four-day affair underneath cloudy skies also adds weight to his impressive outing in Melbourne.
His strong performance has come at a perfect time with senior Indian team struggling to find a reliable middle order bat lately, especially after a forgettable home series loss against New Zealand earlier this month.
Jurel, along with KL Rahul, was flown down under well ahead of the rest of the Indian squad to take part in India A’s match.