Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for the young batter ahead of the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
No Virat Kohli, no problem. From managing Jasprit Bumrah’s workload to giving youngsters a chance at the highest level, Team India ticked all the right boxes under Rohit Sharma’s leadership during the five-match Test series against England. Rising stars Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan announced themselves in the five-match Test series against England as India unearthed several young talents in the lead-up to the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 2024.
Sunil Gavaskar before the start of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 final between India and Australia(PTI)
With all roads leading to the world’s richest T20 league, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has opted to throw his weight behind a rising star. According to former skipper Gavaskar, Indian wicketkeeper-batter Jurel deserves a batting promotion in the Rajasthan Royals (RR) lineup at the IPL 2024. Mighty impressed with Jurel, batting icon Gavaskar is expecting Jurel to cap off a fruitful season in the cash-rich league.
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What Gavaskar said about young Jurel before IPL 2024?
“Dhruv Jurel can be that person definitely. The way he has batted this year and the way he batted in the IPL last IPL, he can definitely get a promotion up the order,” Gavaskar told Star Sports ahead of RR’s IPL 2024 opener. Jurel made his Test debut in the third game of the England series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium. The RR star played a gutsy knock of 46 off 104 balls in his debut game. The young wicketkeeper-batter raised his stocks with a crucial knock of 90 off 149 balls against Ben Stokes and Co. in the 4th Test at Ranchi.
Did you know?
Wicket-keeper Jurel was added to Group C of BCCI’s central contract list after the England Test series. Jurel’s impressive wicketkeeping show also paved the way for the RR star to draw comparisons with legendary gloveman MS Dhoni. Batting legend Gavaskar gave Jurel a special mention during the England Test series. “Of course he has batted well, but his keeping, his work behind the stumps has been equally brilliant. Just by looking at his game awareness, I want to say that he is another MS Dhoni in the making. I know there can never be another MSD but you know the presence of mind that he has, MSD also when he started, it was that. And Jurel has that game awareness. Street-smart cricketer,” Gavaskar had said.
Who will RR meet in their IPL 2024 opener?
Young Jurel has played 13 IPL matches. He made his debut against Punjab Kings at Barsapara Cricket Stadium last year. Champions in the 2008 edition of the IPL, Sanju Samson’s Rajasthan Royals will meet KL Rahul-led in their tournament opener at Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday. The Royals roped in Rovman Powell (Rs. 7.4 crore), Shubham Dubey (Rs. 5.80 crore), Tom Kohler-Cadmore (Rs. 40 lakh), Abid Mushtaq (Rs. 20 lakh), Nandre Burger (Rs. 50 lakh) at the IPL 2024 auction.
