For once, India having three keeper-batters in their XI is not a bad thing
The last time India travelled with three frontline wicketkeeper-batters in their squad to England it was heavily criticised. They were embarking on their ODI World Cup journey in 2019 and there were too many good glovemen – MS Dhoni, Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Karthik (and also KL Rahul, but he wasn’t a regular back then). The debate around picking Vijay Shankar as the second fast-bowling all-rounder for the tournament was already a raging fire and three wicket-keepers felt like a lot of bloat in the squad.
By the time the three played, India had already booked their place in the semifinals with MS Dhoni having played most of the matches as the keeper-batter. Pant and Karthik couldn’t contribute a huge deal to the campaign that ended in a heartbreak in the semifinal against New Zealand. The criticism of having three players with non-complementary skillsets was back again.
Six years later, India once again have a similar situation with their squad for the five-match Test series against England beginning on June 20. Rishabh Pant is the designated keeper and a fixture for the middle-order as the enforcer on English soil.
KL Rahul is more or less confirmed for the opener’s role after making the spot his own in absence of Rohit Sharma in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Moreover, his classical technique and his impressive average of 51 in England makes him a perfect fit for the opening role.
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While the two keepers are locked in for playing XI, India can still have a third frontline keeper in the playing XI and actually benefit from it.
Since making a big splash at the 2019 Under 19 Asia Cup by leading the Indian team to the title, Dhruv Jurel’s rise has been steady and deserved. He has been so good that his inclusion as a pure batter is more likely than the others earmarked for the lower-middle order.
It was evident in his debut Test innings against England in Rajkot which served up as a strategy lesson to counter ‘Bazball’. Jurel walked in at No.8 and spent two and half hours at the crease for his 46 runs. India lost centurion Ravindra Jadeja and night-watchman Kuldeep Sen in quick succession and being stuck under 400 would dent their options to dominate the Test.
Jurel added 77 runs with Ravichandran Ashwin for the eighth wicket to put India in the driving seat of the match.
It was exactly how Ashwin, a capable batter in the lower middle-order, had done for 13 years of his Test career — forging big partnerships and batting with tail-enders. By the time he retired, Ashwin had seven century stands and 34 partnerships that were 50-plus while batting between No.6 and No.8.
In the fourth Test of the same series in Ranchi, Jurel went one better after walking in at 161/5 while up at against a total of 353. Jurel’s penance of three and half hours paid off in style as he forged partnerships of 76 for the eighth wicket with Kuldeep Yadav and a ninth-wicket partnership of 40 with Akash Deep as India slashed England’s first innings advantage to a mere 36 runs. Jurel fell short of a maiden Test hundred and returned back as the final wicket, but it was enough to show that he had the temperament of what India needs from its lower middle-order lynchpin.
These were situations he encountered from his First-Class debut innings for Uttar Pradesh. In that Ranji Trophy group-stage game in 2022 against a strong Vidarbha side in Sultanpur, Jurel forged a 85-run stand for the sixth wicket with Akashdeep Nath and multiple mini partnerships with the tail to take his team score from 169 to 301.
Jurel also has the know-how of delivering in whichever role he is assigned. In the game where he scored his only FC century till date, Jurel was promoted to opening against Nagaland. He wasn’t content with a hundred and went on to make 249.
His exploits in domestic cricket, where he has battled both old and the new ball with equal authority, coupled with his recent form in the India A games where he scored three fifties on the trot, should be enough to convince the Indian team management to keep him in the playing XI in adverse conditions.
Even though he is years away from becoming a master craftsman like Ravichandran Ashwin in the lower middle-order, it is important that his determination is necessary in hostile overcast conditions in England.
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