Kolkata: Out of sight can often quickly morph to out of mind. Rishabh Pant, however, commands a body of work so extensive and proven that messing with it wouldn’t be advisable.
What about Dhruv Jurel though? A recurring theme of his career has been that of an understudy who is picked when Pant is unavailable. But even that arrangement has to give way to something more permanent if the performance warrants it. And Jurel is nearly there.
Over the years, the boundaries between a batter and a wicket-keeper batter have begun to overlap, pushing out the specialist keeping genre in favour of a slightly compromised version that may drop a few catches but is more likely to compensate with batting consistency.
Pant epitomised that culture, quickly scoring hundreds in England, Australia and South Africa even though the keeping standards took some hits. Jurel’s game is by an extension of that culture but with more acceptable results very early into his career.
Getting up as late as possible, keeping his eyes on the ball till the last millisecond, Jurel’s keeping ticked all the basics on debut, that too in Indian conditions. And then there was the solid batting, a fluent technique that allowed him to defend and attack admirably on his way to match-winning 90 in the first innings of the Ranchi Test against England.
So rich was the vein of form he had struck in England—he struck three half centuries—with the India A side that the temptation to play him in the ensuing Tests was immense. It wasn’t until the fifth Test though that Jurel finally secured his place, only after Pant had been ruled out due to a right foot fracture.
His keeping had already been validated by then though, the sharp stumpings of Joe Root and Harry Brook in the Manchester Test underscoring lightning reflexes after a discouraging start in the Lord’s Test where India had conceded 25 byes.
The 34 at the Oval had potential, but it wasn’t until the show moved to Ahmedabad that Jurel cashed in as batter, slamming a patient hundred. Factor in the scores of 140, 1 and 56 against Australia A before the West Indies tour, coupled with the 132* and 127* against South Africa A last week and we have a string of scores that just can’t be ignored as India are readying themselves for a tough series against South Africa.
The consistency apart, that some of these scores came to rescue floundering innings on challenging tracks must be compelling enough to prompt a rethink, or better, a compromise. India faced this dilemma at Old Trafford as well, after Jurel was forced to keep wickets in the Lord’s Test because Pant had injured his left index finger. Pant kept his place but broke his foot in the first innings at Old Trafford, prompting the recall of Jurel. In the run-up to the Eden Test however, the dilemma must feel more complex.
Pant is undroppable but leaving out Jurel might be harsh. The concept of two keepers playing in the same eleven is not outlandish, especially when it would be hard to justify Nitish Kumar Reddy’s inclusion on a pitch that is expected to take turn from the third day, that too against opponents who are much better prepared than West Indies.
And Jurel is assuredly ahead of Reddy—if not a few others as well—in terms of batting caliber, having done whatever has been asked of him so far. The numbers at least justify Jurel’s selection as a specialist batter. It remains to be seen though if India are ready to make that call.