Dhruv Jurel Gets Kumar Sangakkara Praise After Rajasthan Royals Star Earns Maiden India Call-Up
New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara expressed happiness over Dhruv Jurel’s maiden national team call-up after the 22-year-old was named in the India squad for the first two Test matches against England. With Ishan Kishan still opting to stay away from cricket, Jurel earned his selection following impressive performances for India A in South Africa and Ranji Trophy.
Jurel came into the limelight after his impressive show for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023. Making most of the Impact Player rule, Jurel emerged as a crucial cog in Royals middle-order scoring 152 runs in 11 matches at a strike rate of 172.73 and established himself as one of the finishers to look out for.
“Very proud and happy because one of our key motivators and one of our key kind of performance indicators away from the IPL is producing players for India and we have produced quite a lot over the years and Dhruv being a new addition,” Sangakkara said.
#WATCH | Paarl: On Dhruv Jurel’s selection in India’s Test squad against England, Former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara says, “Very proud and happy because one of our key motivators and one of our key kind of performance indicators away from the IPL is producing players for… pic.twitter.com/e4WOjWEAYT
— ANI (@ANI) January 13, 2024
“He’s a fantastic young man. He is a really good player who’s worked really hard to get where he is…He understands pressure. He came in last season in one of the most difficult positions and scored so many runs for us. He’s an absolute match-win in the short format,” added the former Sri Lankan captain.
Jurel was a part of the India A squad that toured South Africa recently. He had made a 69 in the second match at Benoni and more recently made a 63 for Uttar Pradesh against Kerala in a first round group game of the Ranji Trophy at Alappuzha.
Jurel, who had made his First-Class debut last year against Vidarbha, has so far made 790 runs from 15 matches at an average of 46 with a hundred and five fifties in the domestic circuit. However, KS Bharat could be the first-choice wicketkeeper batter and the selectors have also named KL Rahul for the role.