Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar lavished praise on Dhruv Jurel after the wicketkeeper-batsman delivered a gutsy performance while batting down the order in India's first innings of the fourth Test against England at the JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi. He scored 90 runs, with six boundaries and four maximums. Unfortunately, he lost out on his first Test century when Tom Hartley clean-bowled him.
Jurel's "presence of mind" received praise from the "Little Master," who compared the youngster to the celebrated former Indian captain and wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.
"Watching the presence of mind of Dhruv Jurel makes me think he's the next MS Dhoni in the making," Gavaskar said on Sports 18 during commentary.
He went on to say that if the 23-year-old continues to bat just like he did in Ranchi, he will likely score many hundreds.
"Today he missed out on a century but make no mistake this young man will go on to score many centuries because of his presence of mind," the former cricketer said during the Lunch break on Day 3.
During the fourth Test, England won the toss and decided to bat first. The visitors scored 353 runs, including an undefeated 122-run knock by Joe Root and a half-century from Ollie Robinson. Meanwhile, for India, Ravindra Jadeja and Akash Deep collected four and three wickets, respectively, while Mohammed Siraj claimed two.
India struggled in their first innings, but Yashasvi Jaiswal maintained his batting prowess, reaching 73 off 117 deliveries, including eight fours and one six. For the majority of the third day's opening session, Dhruv Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav held off the Ben Stokes-led side. Notably, the partnership faced 202 deliveries and added 76 runs for the ninth wicket. Kuldeep scored 28 off 131 balls to help India reach 307 runs. Meanwhile, Shoaib Bashir recorded his first five-wicket haul for England.
