Sunil Gavaskar criticized the youngster for throwing his wicket away. He cautioned the youngster for taking things for granted.
Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar is known for his straightforward comments. While he is heard praising current cricketers for their extraordinary talent, he has openly criticized their poor shot selection as well.
On Day 2 of Dharamsala Test, India had lost Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in quick succession in the second session. But youngsters Devdutt Padikkal and Sarfaraz Khan stitched together a crucial partnership to steady India’s innings
England’s bowlers came back strongly in the third session to remove both the set batters Sarfaraz Khan and Devdutt Padikkal. The onus was on Ravindra Jadeja and last match’s hero Dhruv Jurel to steady the ship.
The duo added 24 runs and were looking good before Dhruv Jurel threw his wicket away. Jurel came down the track and tried to hit offspinner Shoaib Bashir with the turn for a six over long on. But instead, he miscued the shot and the ball ended up hitting the outer half of the bat.
The ball got enough elevation but not the distance. Ben Duckett, stationed at the long-on boundary, kept his eyes on the ball and took a smart catch. On a pitch where he could have scored a lot of runs, Dhruv Jurel had given his wicket away for 15.
During his commentary stint, Sunil Gavaskar slammed Dhruv Jurel for his poor shot selection.
“Jurel will be very disappointed at that shot. Yes, that’s what happened. To get it at the bottom of the bat. You’ve just come out to bat. You’ve batted only 24 deliveries. You can see that there is Ravindra Jadeja batting at the other end. There’s a fielder there at deep. You did not have to play that shot. No wonder Jurel is looking at his bat very, very upset with himself. And he should be,” Gavaskar said.
The former India captain gave the example of Hyderabad Test where India lost the match despite being ahead of the game at one point. He warned Jurel for taking things for granted.
“Always be mindful of what happened in Hyderabad. He can look as much as he wants to. Yes! The learning curve! Never take anything for granted. Not in Test cricket. It does not make any sense,” he warned.
Sunil Gavaskar was the first person to compare Dhruv Jurel with MS Dhoni when the former stitched a composed knock of 90 and an unbeaten 39 in the Ranchi Test to help India beat England. Jurel was adjudged the Player of the Match for his brilliant performance.
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Jurel’s dismissal opened the floodgates for England to come back into the match. India lost next two wickets in quick succession to lose three wickets for just 1 run. India were bowled out for 477 in their first innings with England 103/5 at lunch on Day 3.
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