Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel was frustrated after getting out on 93, seven away from a well-deserved hundred on Day 4 of the Irani Cup match between Rest of India and Mumbai in Lucknow. Dhruv was shaking his head in disappointment as he trudged back to the dressing room after getting out just before the lunch break at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium.
Dhruv Jurel was at his stroke-making best as he hit a six and 13 boundaries for his 121-ball 93. A sensational straight drive was among the many fluent shots that he played on Friday morning, denying Mumbai bowlers a chance to get an early breakthrough.
However, Dhruv was undone in his nervous nineties. Mumbai’s left-arm spinner Shams Mulani got the big breakthrough, having Dhruv caught down the leg side. The rub of the green did not go Dhruv’s way as he got a faint edge while trying to sweep a delivery that was bowled down the leg side. Dhruv was given out by the on-field umpire following which he took a review. However, replays and Snickometer showed the ball brushing the bottom part of Dhruv’s bat before landing in wicketkeeper-batter Hardik Tamore’s gloves.
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The dressing room was up on its feet, praising Dhruv Jurel’s steely knock, but the wicketkeeper walked back, feeling the pinch of missing out on an Irani Cup hundred.
A few deliveries later, Dhruv’s batting partner Abhimanyu Easwaran was also dismissed by Shams Mulani. The Bengal captain missed out on his double hundred by 9 runs as Mumbai got the wickets of two well-set batters in the last 20 minutes of the first session.
Rest of India went to Lunch at 400 for 6 with Manav Suthar and Saransh Jain unbeaten in the middle. Abhimanyu and Dhruv added 165 runs for the 5th wicket, leading Rest of India’s strong response to Mumbai’s mammoth first-innings total of 537.
Despite not getting to his hundred, Dhruv Jurel did enough to keep himself in the Test selection mix. The 23-year-old from Agra was released from the India Test squad during the recently concluded Kanpur Test against Bangladesh and was drafted straight into the Rest of India XI in Irani Cup. Dhruv will be part of the Test squad in the upcoming 3-Test series against New Zealand, starting October 16.
Dhruv impressed in his maiden Test series, playing crucial knocks for India against England earlier this year. However, he lost his place in the XI to comeback Rishabh Pant, who shone in the two-Test series against Bangladesh.
