NEW DELHI: ‘Meticulous’ is the word which former India batting coach Vikram Rathour generously uses when he talks about Dhruv Jurel. Rathour has seen the 24-year-old closely — first in the Indian dressing room and then with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).“Great work ethic. Very sincere guy. Nice kid. Very nice to speak to. Understands his cricket. Very intelligent as far as his game is concerned,” Rathour says in a freewheeling chat with TimesofIndia.com about Jurel.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Jurel had played only 15 first-class matches, with a highest score of 249 against a weak Nagaland side. But there was something about him that caught the eye of the Indian selection panel, headed by Ajit Agarkar, and he received his maiden call-up. Rishabh Pant was still recovering from a horrific car accident, KS Bharat played the first two Tests against England, and then in Rajkot, Jurel got his chance.“Rajkot was the first time I saw him play. And then in Ranchi, he played a fantastic knock, that partnership with Kuldeep (Yadav) was phenomenal. In that series, a couple of knocks he played were incredible. The chase in Ranchi is something I will always remember. It was difficult conditions, we were under pressure, and the series was on the line,” recalls Rathour.
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Jurel burst onto the scene during the 2020 Under-19 World Cup and then had a breakthrough campaign as a finisher in IPL 2023. But Rathour explains how adapting to the longer format wasn’t an easy transition.“In that England series, he showed great temperament and great technique. Somebody who I could see wants to work hard. He kept pushing for more batting, more batting. Even before the start of the day, he wanted to come early and bat in the nets. And then I got the chance to work with him at RR as well. He’s somebody who has really good technique, a great mindset, and works very hard on his game,” says Rathour.Rathour feels Jurel’s wicketkeeping is as good as former India gloveman Wriddhiman Saha’s. One of the coaches, who wished to not be named, has worked with Jurel from his formative years agrees.“Jurel is unbelievable. He is at Saha’s level. He is a next-level keeper. Against spin, he is probably the best keeper in India. And against fast bowling, he is absolutely unbelievable,” the coach tells TimesofIndia.com.
Dhruv Jurel celebrating his century on day two of the first Test vs West Indies. (PTI Photo)
“At the trials, I got him confused with Aryan Juyal. I had to see his video again. He hit an inside-out shot over covers and I was sold,” says the coach.“Honestly, whether it was Sanju Samson all those years ago, or Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal recently. All of them I picked based on one shot. I can remember the shots even today. Jaiswal came in and flicked the first ball over fine leg. Riyan Parag hit a six over mid-wicket. Sanju pulled the first ball for a six in Jaipur. That shot Jurel hit showed the spark in him. The rest of the innings was okay, not outstanding, but that shot stayed in my head,” he adds.The making of Dhruv Jurel
Dhruv Jurel
Talegaon is a small village about 100 kilometres from Nagpur, in Maharashtra’s Wardha district, a region often mentioned for its distressing farmer suicide rates. The only trace of industry here involves crafting iron goods such as knives, daggers, and kitchen tools.From this unlikely setting, where Rajasthan Royals have their training base, where the RR coaches helped shape one of India’s brightest young stars. Jurel spent countless weeks and months in Talegaon, sharpening his skills much like the blades the village is known for.“Jurel was completely different. We had to change everything. The good thing was that we started from scratch because we had the time, he wasn’t playing in the side, so we could completely restructure him,” says the coach.
You see his back-lift, how he takes the first step in his pre-movement, everything has been meticulously planned.
Unnamed coach on Dhruv Jurel
“You see his back-lift, how he takes the first step in his pre-movement, everything has been meticulously planned.“It was planned for a proper three years. For example, even when he came into the Indian side and almost scored a hundred against England in Ranchi, three days before that Test, he was at our academy. We set up this practice session for him where he batted for 130 overs in two hours and twenty minutes.“We still talk about that. He says, ‘Sir, no one believes me that I’ve done this much.’ I told him to leave it, only he knows how much he improved in that one session. He went from 50–60% to 80%,” he recalls.Like Rathour, one of Jurel’s coaches praises the 24-year-old’s work ethic, his hunger for improvement, and compares his temperament to Rahul Dravid’s.“His work ethic is out of this world. He can just keep going. He reminds me of Rahul Dravid with that level of discipline. He’ll keep batting for hours,” he says.
Former India batting coach Vikram Rathour
In the ongoing West Indies series, Jurel got another chance as Rishabh Pant was yet to recover from his injury, and the Agra lad grabbed the opportunity with both hands, slamming his maiden Test century at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.Before the series, he had an incredible outing against Australia A, scoring 140, 1, and 56. In the first innings of the second match in Lucknow, he was trapped for 1 by pacer Henry Thornton.“Oh my god. He had to address that issue that very evening. He called, panicking ‘I’m not able to do this, I’m not able to do that.’ He’s an emotional chap; I deal with him very carefully. We addressed all those issues that day itself. I said, we can’t let this happen again.“So, we made some technical changes. There’s a lot of releasing of the back foot that he does now. If you see him playing straight or on the on-side, he keeps releasing the back foot into the ball. That helps him play shots down the ground, through mid-wicket and square leg — anywhere from mid-on to square leg. By releasing the back foot, he gets into a beautiful position. It’s something Sachin Tendulkar used to do when hitting down the ground. Sachin would always release that back foot beautifully. Not many people can do that,” explains the coach.
Dhruv Jurel (PTI Photo)
The coach says Jurel keeps him on his toes all the time. “He asks difficult questions, a proper cricket nerd.”“He has an insane work ethic, and it’s helped him become the readymade product he is now. He’s putting in the work — morning, noon, and night. He doesn’t leave anything.“He’ll call all the time ‘Sir, is this okay? Is that okay?’ He keeps sending videos. In terms of the meticulous way he prepares, he’s the number one guy. Others check when something goes wrong, but he checks even when he’s done well. His video will come,” he says.With India going through a transition and the middle order far from settled, Jurel could be a solid middle-order option, with Pant donning the gloves.“Who knows, I think somebody like Jurel is good enough to play even as a batter in Tests,” says a confident Rathour.Jurel has every attribute to carve a space for himself purely as a batter — and as a keeper, he’s a superman, among the very best in the business.
