India coach clears air on Rishabh Pant–Dhruv Jurel selection headache ahead of South Africa Tests
Ahead of the South Africa Test series, India’s head coach has finally spoken out about the selection dilemma between Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel. Addressing the growing speculation, the coach clearly stated who would wear the gloves, saying “You can’t let him go”, ending the days of uncertainty among fans and pundits.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate has all but confirmed that Dhruv Jurel will be in the starting eleven for the first Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens on November 14. With Rishabh Pant returning as specialist wicketkeeper, there were concerns about Jurel’s position in the team. However, Ten Doeschate stated that India will find a way to include both Pant and Jurel in the squad.
For those unaware, Pant had been sidelined since the fourth Test against England due to a toe injury. He returned just in time for the series, playing for India A and scoring 90 and 65 in two matches.
Meanwhile, Jurel was in outstanding form, scoring consecutive centuries against South Africa A in the second unofficial Test.
“That’s the short answer, I don’t think you can leave him out of this Test,” Ten Doeschate said of Jurel. “But of course you can only pick 11, so someone else will have to miss. I think we have a pretty good idea of the combination,” Ryan ten Doeschate told reporters.
Ryan Ten Doeschate stated that all-rounder Nitish Reddy is expected to lose his place in the XI to make room for Jurel.
The pitch at Eden Gardens is expected to favor spinners, allowing four spinners (Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja) to field India’s two specialist seam bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.
“Our position on Nitish has not changed. He didn’t get a chance in Australia. But looking at the fight here, I think he will miss the playing XI this week.”
Jurel recently achieved remarkable success by scoring a double century for India A in the second unofficial Test against South Africa A at the BCCI Center of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru. He made an impressive unbeaten 132* in the first innings and reached triple figures on Day 3.
In addition to his 113 runs in the first innings, Jurel also surpassed 2,000 runs in First-Class cricket.
With Pant sidelined due to injury, Jurel participated in two Tests for India against the West Indies, where he recorded scores of 125, 44 and 6*.
India Test Team: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Akash Deep.
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