Former England captain Michael Vaughan who is mostly known for his derogatory comments on the Indian national team, surprisingly was all praise for India’s new wicket-keeper batsman Dhruv Jurel who replaced KS Bharat from the Indian playing XI following the 2nd Test win in Vishakhapatnam by 106-runs.
That could well become Bharat’s final Test match appearance as Jurel has put up solid performances with not just the bats but also with his nifty glovework.
But Michael Vaughan was particularly impressed with Dhruv Jurel’s solid defensive technique which helped him negotiate well against England’s bowling battery in a cracked-up and dry track here at the JSCA stadium in Ranchi.
The 23-year-old’s inning was very crucial as India were in a delicate situation at that time and provided solidity from number 7 after Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sarfaraz Khan’s removals.
“His technical side”, Vaughan praises Dhruv Jurel’s gameplay
While speaking to Cricbuzz after day 3 in Ranchi concluded with India scoring 40 runs from their target of 192, Michael Vaughan was explaining the importance of having a solid technique to survive for longer hours in Test cricket.
The 49-year-old noted that batters of this generation are more or less relying on power-hitting and attacking gameplay, something that is only helpful in the shortest format.
And after seeing Dhruv Jurel bat for a long period in the 2nd innings, Michael Vaughan was impressed with his solidity in defending the ball down and called it “tremendous”.
“I always look at a young player. Pretty much all young players will have the attacking game. In T20 cricket, they see the ball and whack it. But I look at technique. I believe in Test match cricket, you are not going to survive for long if you don’t have the technique to face good bowling attacks. His technical side was tremendous, he has a nice, solid technique.” – Vaughan said via Cricbuzz.
Dhruv Jurel himself is a product of the world’s richest cricketing league, the Indian Premier League but he has enough adjustment in him to bat accordingly in a red-ball match. He doesn’t even have that much experience in first-class cricket but has a decent record from the 16 Ranji Trophy matches he has played for Uttar Pradesh.
The 23-year-old has 836 runs to his name with a very good average of nearly 47 with a highest score of 249. His resilience in the 2nd innings saw him score 90 runs off 149 deliveries including 6 fours and 4 maximums that helped take India’s score from 177 to 307.
Vaughan likes the fact that Jurel excelled under pressure
Michael Vaughan was also impressed with Dhruv Jurel because the youngster had enough mettle in him to thrive under a pressure situation. To take India from 177/7 to 307 all out is never an easy task with Vaughan also appreciating Jurel’s ability to find gaps.
“Then when he started to hit those big ones at the backend of the innings, he started to hit them down the ground, over the bowler’s head. He maneuvered the ball into the gaps on the field. To do that under incredible pressure in his second game was great. When he had that partnership with Kuldeep Yadav, he gradually got India back into the Test match, and he played beautifully.” – Vaughan concluded.
