He was retained by the franchise for INR 14 crore.
Former Indian player Aakash Chopra believes the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) provides an opportunity for a lot of players to prove their worth. In the latest video on his YouTube channel, Chopra emphasised Dhruv Jurel’s price tag, by stating that Rajasthan Royals (RR) has taken “a huge punt” by retaining the youngster for a whopping INR 14 crore.
After his debut in 2023, Jurel has managed to score just 195 runs in 11 innings at an average of 24.38 last season. Following this below-par performance, Chopra opined that it’s time for him to reflect on the faith and belief that the team has shown towards him.
“A huge punt has been played on him. He is a brilliant player, but you have paid ₹14 crore on potential and promise. I feel he is a phenomenal player. So he has something different to prove”, he stated.
The former cricketer-turned-commentator also spoke about two other national stars from the Rajasthan squad for whom this IPL could be a pivotal season.
Chopra believes that Yashasvi Jaiswal has to put up a great show in this IPL. Though he is set to earn a spot in India’s ODI playing XI in the future, he has to give a tough fight to Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) Abhishek Sharma and his IPL captain Sanju Samson to enter the national T20I squad.
“Yashasvi Jaiswal has to make his place in the T20 format. I feel he will automatically get a place in ODIs after some time, but he has to make a place in T20Is, and he won’t get a place there easily because Sanju Samson is there with Abhishek Sharma. So if he has a great IPL season, he could be that guy”, he said.
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Moreover, the former player backed the Royals skipper to overcome his weakness while facing bouncers. He acknowledged how the keeper-batter was dismissed by bouncers in his last five international matches. He also advised him to practise playing the short balls.
“Sanju Samson got out to bouncers five times in his last five innings in international cricket. So bouncers will be bowled to him. He has to silence all critics. So he needs to score runs. He wants to graduate from T20 to the other formats. So that’s the challenge for him”, stressed the former player.
Alongside these star players, Chopra also picked Riyan Parag and Nitish Rana as batters to watch out for this season. Parag missed his India debut due to injury. Rana was released from the three-time IPL champion KKR’s squad after a long seven-year stint. Both will be looking forward to making this season a turning point in their respective careers.
RR will kick off their campaign on March 23 against SRH in Hyderabad.
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