By Zubin Bharucha
Dhruv Jurel was sent to the trials of Rajasthan Royals by Kartik Tyagi (former Uttar Pradesh bowler). He hadn’t played for UP that season or played any representative cricket.
I remember him hitting this one ball over extra-cover for an enormous six and thought this looked different and special. Another boy by the name of A Juyal was also batting well for UP that season and was at the same trial. Both looked impressive, but we felt that Dhruv had a little X factor about him, despite not playing any state cricket that year.
Even our own RR selection team was confused which player we were going after. But I requested them to check the video of the guy who hit that six over extra-cover and they came back saying it was Jurel. I was very clear that’s the one RR should be chasing come auction day.
He kept very briefly in the trials and looked effortless.
As soon as RR picked him, the work began. He was an unbelievably committed student and willing to work to the point of physical and mental exhaustion to learn his craft.
Jurel misses ton but takes India closer to English total before Ashwin and Kuldeep rip through England!@shamik100 reviews!#INDvsENGTest #DhruvJurel #INDvsENG https://t.co/DZlvMjXsC0
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) February 25, 2024
We have been preparing for the last 18 months taking the version (T20, ODI or Test matches) out of the equation and the practice merely focussed on the how and where runs can be scored.
Just before the Test match, Jurel came to the RR High Performance Centre in Talegaon and batted for 140 overs in a day. It took over four hours on different spinning surfaces. It was a monumental practice session, one of the few that matched Yashasvi Jaiswal’s long sessions.
RR now have a bunch of boys all trying to outdo each other’s sessions, with Riyan Parag also following the same principles and matching Sanju Samson, Jaiswal and Jurel stoke for stroke.
After the session with Jurel, the talk was simply around how to go down to the level of our practices and execute the same in a Test match.
Zubin Bharucha (Director of High Performance, Rajasthan Royals) spoke to Ishaan Shahane
Another MSD in the making: Gavaskar lauds Dhruv Jurel’s application as he scores maiden test fifty against England in Ranchi.@ThumsUpOfficial @dhruvjurel21 @debasissen #DhruvJurel #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/XJTMSAk8Ze
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) February 25, 2024