Who is Dhruv Jurel – the 22-year-old who nearly took down PBKS?

Dhruv Jurel is no stranger to the ones who have closely followed age-group cricket in the country. Way back in 2019, Jurel was part of the Indian U-19 setup, where he was the vice-captain in a team that was led by Priyam Garg. Hailing from Agra, Jurel made his senior debut for Uttar Pradesh in the 2019-20 season.

The son of an army officer Nem Singh Jurel, who fought for India in the 1999 Kargil war, Jurel grew up idolizing MS Dhoni and hence wanted to be a wicketkeeper. When he hit a 101 in the U-19 Quadrangular Series final against South Africa after a fine 65 against the same opposition, he had made sure that the management would trust him to become the deputy to Garg.

Although not having a lot of T20s under his belt – three, to be precise –  Jurel’s abilities have been well-known, especially his nifty work behind the wickets. But his batting? 

Jurel’s batting prowess

The 22-year-old has played 11 First-Class games in his career, with 587 runs at an incredible average of 48.91, including a century and three half-centuries. To have a high score of 249 with the bat shows his skills and worth for Uttar Pradesh. 

Having made his debut in 2021 in T20s, against Punjab, where he scored a 30-ball 23, the right-handed batter has worked hard on his power game. His strike rate in the shortest format reads 71.79 across three T20s, and the knock that he scored on his debut to date was his highest score before April 5 (Wednesday)

Rise to fame?

In 2019, Jurel’s involvement was crucial for India’s U-19 side, where he scored 101 runs in six innings, including a half-century that was important for India’s chances in the tournament. The wicketkeeper batter was then bought by Rajasthan Royals in the 2022 IPL Auction for INR 20 lakhs. 

Jurel first came into the limelight by scoring 736 runs from 11 matches in his debut season in the Cooch Behar Trophy. 

Almost takes the game away from Punjab

The moment Punjab Kings thought that they had sealed the game in their favour, thus entered Dhruv Chand Jurel, and the course of the game changed in a flash, as an impact player replacing Yuzvendra Chahal. 

Even though he didn’t get a chance to play for the Royals in 2022, coming in as an impact player against Punjab Kings, Jurel played a blinder of 15-ball 32, joining hands with Shimron Hetmyer, making sure he couldn’t be ignored further. 

“The coaches have put a lot of work behind him (on Dhruv Jurel), we had a work week camp before the IPL, but the way they have worked a lot of time in our camp, having faced 1000s of balls and I'm happy with the way they're progressing,” Samson said at the post-match presentation. 

Jurel is here, and with a struggling Indian core in the Royals, there is a high chance that he might be a starter in the coming days.