Rising Indian wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel continues to make a name for himself after making his debut in the ongoing Test series against England. Jurel hogged the limelight and sparked MS Dhoni-like comparison, once again, when he correctly predicted England batter Ollie Pope”s mode of dismissal on Day 1 of the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala.
The incident took place in the 26th over of the match after England opted to bat. Jurel noticed Pope”s stance in the previous delivery against Kuldeep Yadav and hinted to him from behind the stumps that “Yeh badhega aage (he will step out),” referring to that Pope will step out of his crease to counter his spin.
And Pope did the same. Against a googly from the chinaman bowler, which was pitched shorter than expected, Pope stepped out but the delivery went past his outside edge, giving Jurel enough time to collect the ball and stump him out. It was an important delivery for the hosts at the stroke of lunch to reduce England to 100 for two, where both the wickets were picked up by Kuldeep.
Kuldeep sends Pope packing with a Jaffa 🤯🤌
India get their second wicket at the stroke of Lunch 🙌#IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #INDvENG #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/gQWM3XYEEg
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 7, 2024
Former India captain Anil Kumble was among the list of experts who compared Jurel”s antics to the legendary wicketkeeper batter MS Dhoni after his match-winning knock of 90 runs in the first innings of the Ranchi Test.
Kumble also hinted that the youngster has all the credentials that matches to Dhoni when quizzed on if Team India should retain him once regular wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant is available for selection after recovering from the injury caused due to the road accident.
“Oh yes, there’s Rishabh Pant. We don’t know of course when he comes, comes back whenever that happens. Sooner hopefully for Rishabh. But otherwise, yes, he certainly has all the credentials to get to where MS (Dhoni) reached in his career. But he’s shown that he’s not just shown the temperament of his technique to defence but even when he’s attacking. Even in that first innings he was very assured he went after and then hit those big sixes when he was batting with the tail and hats off even behind the stumps,” Kumble had told Jio Cinema.
