IND vs ENG: Dhruv Jurel can reach the standards of MS Dhoni, says Anil Kumble

Young India wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel has impressed one and all with his gritty batting and sharp wicketkeeping in the ongoing five-match Test series against England.

Jurel even earned the Player of the Match award for his match-saving effort in both innings of the game. In the first innings at the JSCA Stadium, Jurel scored 90 runs, digging India out of a mini-collapse in the middle-order. In the second innings of the game, Jurel scored a crucial 39* when he eased the pressure on Shubman Gill.

Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar heaped praise on the batter and said that he had the potential to become the next MS Dhoni. The comparisons came after Jurel’s sharp run out against Ben Duckett in the Rajkot Test match, where he ran into the stumps, picked a throw from mid-on and dismantled the stumps while sliding on his pads.

“Watching the presence of mind of Dhruv Jurel makes me think he’s the next M S Dhoni in the making,” said Gavaskar on JioCinema.

Now, former India captain and coach Anil Kumble made the same comparison and said that Jurel had the talents to match the aura and elegance of MS Dhoni behind the stumps and with the bat as well.

“Dhruv Jurel certainly has all the credentials to get to where MS (Dhoni) reached in his career. He’s not just shown the temperament of his technique to defence but even when he’s attacking. Even in that first innings, he was very assured, he went after and then hit those big sixes,” Kumble said on Jio Cinema.

“He’s been exceptional, especially of the faster bowlers…He’s only going to improve. This is only his second Test and I’m sure as he starts playing more and more he’ll only get better. And it only augers well for India. And to have him in a squad is exceptional. Yeah, I mean it’s not been easy for KS Bharat,” the former India head coach added.

Jurel was asked about the comparisons after the Test match in Ranchi, to which the batter said that he was thrilled with what the likes of Gavaskar had said. The wicketkeeper is expected to play the fifth and final Test match in Dharamsala as well.