Wriddhiman Saha Hails 'Outstanding' Dhruv Jurel, Says 'Always Good to See Reserve Bench is Ready'

Veteran India wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha termed the young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel’s batting as ‘outstanding’.

Jurel scored a gritty 46 on Test debut in the third Test and followed it up with scores of 90 and 39 in the fourth Test at Ranchi, earning himself the player of the match award.

“I have never seen him (Jurel) in domestic cricket, even in Test matches I have seen in him highlights. But his batting is outstanding, he won the last Test for the team,” he said.

Even as Jurel’s performance also led to comparisons with Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with former India captains differing in their assessments.

Anil Kumble and Sunil Gavaskar drew parallels between his batting as well wicket-keeping with that of Indian cricket legend Dhoni, while Sourav Ganguly had a different opinion.

“Just by looking at his game awareness, I want to say that he is another MS Dhoni in the making,” Sunil Gavaskar had said on commentary.

“He (Dhruv Jurel) certainly has all the credentials to get to where MS (Dhoni) reached in his career,” Kumble said on Jio Cinema.

“Obviously, Jurel has talent but Dhoni is in a different league. It took him 15 years to be MS Dhoni. So let him [Jurel] play,” Ganguly told RevSports.

Wriddhiman Saha also feels the future of Indian cricket is bright because of its bench strength while once again underlining the importance of domestic circuit. The Bengal star has played 40 Tests and scored 1,353 runs while affecting 104 dismissals (92 catches and 12 stumpings).

Apart from Jurel, KS Bharat had shown promise before his failure with the bat forced the team management to look elsewhere.

After Rishabh Pant’s accident, the team management gave a long rope to KS Bharat and even handed the debut to Ishan Kishan, last year in the West Indies.

“It is always good to see that your reserve bench is ready, whenever somebody is getting a chance,” he said.

“Over that, some players are getting opportunities but don’t want to play, which they shouldn’t. Whenever you get a chance to play, you should play whether it is red ball or white ball,” said Saha.

(With inputs from Agencies)