‘There’s a guy in your team whose average is 63…’: Paine to Rohit, Gambhir

Three Tests are not a big enough sample size to judge a player’s potential in Test cricket but at the same time, they can’t be rubbed off as a flash in the pan. If you ask Tim Paine, it is good enough for a wicketkeeper to warrant in India’s XI as a specialist batter for the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. The player in question here is Dhruv Jurel. He is a part of India’s Test squad for Australia as a backup to Rishabh Pant. There is no way he is going to the gloves ahead of Pant in the Indian XI but former Australia captain Paine believes both Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant should play the first Test starting November 22.
Paine has every reason to feel this way. In fact, the word is there that he may not be the only one vouching for Jurel’s entry in India’s XI as a batter. Dhruv Jurel was easily the best India A batter on display last week. The ease with which the 23-year-old tackled Scott Boland, Michael Neser and others in both innings of the four-day match against Australia A on a bouncy and pacey MCG track, was reason for Paine to back the Indian wicketkeeper batter to shine during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Paine, who coached Australia A in the recent series against India A, witnessed Jurel’s exploits in the second ‘unofficial’ Test where the 23-year-old scored an 80 and 68 at Melbourne.
“There’s a guy who has wicket kept in a few Test matches for India. He averages 63 out of the three Tests he’s played, and his name is Dhruv Jurel” Paine said on ‘SEN Tassie’.
Jurel made his Test debut against England earlier this year. In the three games that he played, Jurel scored 46, 90, 39 not out, and 15, averaging 63 with the bat.
The right-hander has, however, not got a game since Rishabh Pant’s comeback.
“I don’t know if you saw much of the highlights, but after seeing him bat (against Australia A) – even though he’s a wicketkeeper, from what I’ve seen on this tour and from India’s batting in the last couple of months, I’d be staggered if he doesn’t play,” he added.
While Pant is expected to don the wicketkeepers gloves against Australia, Jurel, who was a part of the Indian squad for the New Zealand series, built a strong case for a Test eleven inclusion with two successive fifties in the four-day match.
“He’s 23 and he’s played three Test matches, but he looked a class above all of his teammates, to be fair, and handled the pace and bounced really well, which can be unusual for an Indian player,” Paine said.
The former wicketkeeper batter feels Jurel has the required temperament and skill to succeed in the longer format.
“He scored one of the more polished 80s I’ve seen, and we were all sitting around as staff of Cricket Australia and thought, ‘Wow, this guy can seriously play’,” Paine added.
“Keep an eye out for him this summer. I think he’s going to impress a lot of Australian fans.”
“Even though it’s going to be another step up against the big three (of Cummins, Starc and Hazlewood), he looks like he has the game to play Test cricket,” Pane added.
Dhruj Jurel’s inclusion in India’s XI for the Perth Test is a realistic possibility. India captain Rohit Sharma has yet to land in Australia, and chances are high that he will not feature in the series opener for personal reasons. If that happens, then India are likely to bring KL Rahul back as an opener, indicated head coach Gautam Gambhir. This opens up a spot in the middle-order where Jurel can slot in. Although India has Sarfaraz Khan waiting in the wings, who is better suited in that role? The question the team management needs to answer is whether Sarfaraz will be as effective on a Perth track as he is on Indian pitches.