Former India wicket-keeping batter Parthiv Patel heaped praise on debutant wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel, saying he looked quite assured behind the stumps. India hammered England by 434 runs at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match Test series.
Jurel was one of two players to make their Test debut in Rajkot. The Agra-based wicket-keeping batter received his Test cap from Dinesh Karthik, replacing KS Bharat in the team. Jurel scored 46 runs on his Test debut while forming a crucial partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin to help India post 445 runs in the first innings.
Speaking to Colors Cinema, Patel said Jurel looked assured behind the stumps especially against fast bowlers. Jurel took a catch and was involved in a stumping in Rajkot.
“He looked quite assured behind the stumps, especially when he was keeping against the fast bowlers. It’s not that easy to keep even against fast bowlers in India because pace is there but it doesn’t bounce that much. So you stand a lot ahead and don’t have that much time to react,” said Patel.
Patel hailed Jurel’s run-out of Ben Duckett on Day 4, calling it an extremely difficult take. Jurel produced a moment of magic on Day 4, running Duckett out to provide India their first breakthrough in the final innings.
“Dhruv Jurel did a fantastic run-out. It was an extremely difficult take. Generally, a half-volley take is slightly easy, but when the ball falls one or two feet away from you, it’s very difficult, because you don’t know how much the ball would bounce. India needed some brilliance, and he showed that. That run-out was the moment of the day,” Patel added.
India took the attack to England on Day 4 and declared after posting 430 for 4, setting a 557-run target. The hosts bundled England for 122 runs on Day 4 with the visiting batters failing to get going in Rajkot. India went on to register their biggest Test win in terms of runs, defeating England by 443 runs.
