Should India include Dhruv Jurel in XI for England Tests?
What's the story
The five-match Test series between India and England is set to begin on June 20.
But before that, the India A team is playing a warm-up match against the England Lions in Northampton.
One player who has caught everyone's attention with his stellar performance is wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel.
With three consecutive fifties in practice games, Jurel has not only impressed the selectors but also intensified competition for a spot in the playing XI.
Stellar display
Jurel's impressive run in practice matches
Jurel scored an impressive 94 and an unbeaten 53 in the first unofficial Test against England Lions at Canterbury.
The wicket-keeper batter backed his twin fifties with a resilient 87-ball 52 in the ongoing match.
His innings were marked by patience, timing, and maturity.
The consistency of his performances has led to growing calls for his inclusion in the XI for the upcoming series.
However, including him in the final XI remains a challenge due to the current team composition.
Team composition
India's probable batting order for 1st Test
India's probable batting order for the upcoming Test series includes openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, middle-order batsmen Karun Nair and captain Shubman Gill, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, and all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Including Jurel would mean leaving out an all-rounder or a bowler from this lineup—something that could disturb the balance of the team in English conditions where a strong bowling attack is critical.
Competition
Can Jurel compete for wicket-keeper's role?
Notably, India's first-choice keeper, Rishabh Pant, is also the vice-captain of the team.
Though his batting approach has often garnered criticism, the southpaw has also been instrumental to India's overseas success in recent years.
His average and strike rate in Tests are over 42 and 73, respectively.
As Pant is now also a part of the leadership group, Jurel is unlikely to challenge him for the keeper's spot anytime soon.
Reddy
Reddy's place in danger?
As Reddy enjoyed a brilliant run with the bat in the 2024 Border-Gavaskar series, Jurel is unlikely to pip him for at least the first couple of Tests.
Moreover, the former is a handy seam bowler with a First-Class bowling average of 28.45.
Hence, the all-rounder needs to put up some really disastrous performances to vacate a spot for Jurel.
This means the latter is all but likely to warm the benches for at least the first few Test matches.
Stats
Here are his FC stats
Playing his 24th First-Class match (33 innings), Jurel has raced to 1,434 runs at an average close to 50.
He has hammered his 12th fifty in FC cricket (100s: 1).
As per ESPNcricinfo, in 6 First-Class games for India A (9 innings), he owns 418 runs at an average of 55.36. He slammed his 6th fifty.
Meanwhile, 202 of his runs in FC cricket have come for India across four Tests at 40.40 (50s: 1).