Dhruv Jurel is fast becoming a familiar face in India’s Test dressing-room, yet big hundreds have been slow to arrive. Until this week the keeper-batter had only one first-class century – that monstrous 249 against Nagaland in December 2022 – and he insists the gap never really troubled him.
“Honestly, earlier it did matter to me whether my score was 100 or 150. But now I understand that the team’s victory is more important,” he said in Lucknow after cracking 140 from 197 balls in the drawn opening four-dayer against Australia A. “In first-class cricket, I have seven-eight (he has four) scores in the 90s, which could have been centuries.
“One of them was in the Ranchi Test [against England in February 2024], where I became Player of the Match and the team won the match. Cricket is a team game, and we play cricket so that the team wins. Now I think more about the team’s win than about my scores.”
That Ranchi performance – 90 and an unbeaten 39 at No.7 – effectively nailed down his place as Rishabh Pant’s stand-in. The 24-year-old now owns five Tests, 255 runs and 11 dismissals, a tidy haul for someone who only joined the India A tour of South Africa last December. Even when he is carrying drinks he finds the experience worthwhile. “Staying with or around the [India] team definitely gives you confidence,” he explained. “I consider myself very lucky and privileged that I got the chance to play Tests for India and to be with the team. Even if you are not playing, when seniors are around, you learn so many things from them. In a country of billions, how many people get this opportunity?”
The numbers back up the feeling. Before his Test debut Jurel averaged 46 in first-class cricket; since then that mark has climbed above 54, helped by seven half-centuries and this fresh hundred in just 18 further knocks. Performances for India A and a gritty 93 for Rest of India in the Irani Cup last season have added weight to the belief that, when Pant is rested or unavailable, Jurel is the next cab off the rank.
He refuses to look that far ahead. “I take it one match at a time, and don’t think too far ahead. The more you think, the more pressure you put on yourself,” he said. Those words carry extra relevance with India’s home schedule looming; two-Test series against West Indies and South Africa are pencilled in for next month and Jurel will almost certainly be on standby again.
The journey from Agra – “I come from a small city, Agra. It feels really good that I could make my parents and the people there proud. Where I come from, there wasn’t even a proper wicket. I practiced on a cement wicket. So people there should feel that no matter where you come from, you can still make it, as long as you work hard with a true heart.” – to the national squad remains fresh in his mind. So, too, the work still to be done. For all the tidy glovework and rising batting average, Test cricket is an unforgiving business and the competition is relentless.
India A coach Sitanshu Kotak noted the maturity. “He keeps things simple and his decision-making is quick,” Kotak said, before praising the 140 that set up a lead of 361. Australia A survived comfortably in the end – the pitch flattened and Prithvi Shaw’s side lost time to bad light – yet Jurel’s innings was the clear takeaway.
Selectors value that calmness. Facing a solid Australia A attack led by Scott Boland and Michael Neser, Jurel was watchful early on and then expanded, sweeping spinners cleanly and punching the quicks through cover on a slowish surface. The tempo lifted India A past 400 and offered a reminder that the wicket-keeper’s slot remains a genuine batting position in modern Test sides.
He shrugs off any talk of rivalry with Pant, emphasising learning over jostling. “Everyone dreams of playing for India. When I got the Test cap, I realised, ‘yes, this can happen’,” he said. For now, opportunities will probably stay intermittent, but the message from Lucknow was clear enough: when the phone rings, Jurel can deliver, and he will not fret about whether the next contribution is 90 or 140, so long as the team ends up ahead.
