As the new year 2024 passes by, all of India and the cricketing world is gearing up for an exciting 5 match test series as in the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle, India takes on Brendon McCullum management led England side in India starting 25th January 2024 in Hyderabad. The series which is already in talks as the Bazball vs Indian approach when cricket takes the centerstage, is now heating up due to the selection stint of the Indian squad for first 2 Test matches of the series.
To be played in Indian condition, where the pitches are mostly conducive for spin attack , the Indian team selectors led by former Indian pacer Ajit Agarkar , decided to form a team which comprises of four specialist spinners. However sparks and buzz grew further when in addition to already present KL Rahul selected KS Bharat and newbie Dhruv Jurel as three wicket keepers for the first two matches ignoring the likes of Ishan Kishan and ever performing star Ranji player from Mumbai Sarfaraz Khan.
The curious case of Sarfaraz Khan
As Sanju Samson has to be for India in white ball formats, Mumbai wicket keeper batter Sarfaraz Khan has been revolving in the Indian cricketing circuit and brewing in the media for quite a few time for non selection in the Indian test squad even after two stellar seasons with the red ball in the marquee Indian first class tournament The Ranji Trophy.
Talking about his performance, Sarfaraz has scored 556 runs in six games at an average of 92.66 in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy campaign with the help of three centuries. In the 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season, he had 982 runs at an average of 122.75. Overall, he has an average of 69.6 in First Class cricket. Earlier in December, the 26-year-old batter also smashed a century off 63 balls during India’s three-day intra-squad practice match in Pretoria. He played this knock against the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Harshit Rana.
In addition to make his statement strong for selection, Mumbai-based batter Sarfaraz Khan once again made the headlines with his performance. Playing for India A in the ongoing two-day practice match against England Lions, Sarfaraz smashed 96 off 110 balls. His knock, which consisted of 11 boundaries and one six, came exactly after the day when India’s squad for the first two Tests against England was announced and he was once again overlooked for KS Bharat and Dhruv Jurel who scored 64 and 50 runs for India A.
This continuous ignorance even after producing stellar performances in the domestic circuits has irked the likes of star Indian commentator Aakash Chopra and he took to Youtube to speak on India’s need of a specialist keeper in the red ball format and question on newbie Dhruv Jurel’s selection on lesser red ball domestic experience.
“If this is enough, what should Sarfaraz do?” – Star commentator Aakash Chopra questions Dhruv Jurel’s selection over Sarfaraz Khan for first 2 tests versus England
Former Indian batter now star commentator and Youtuber Aakash Chopra has questioned why Dhruv Jurel has been selected ahead of the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Ishan Kishan in the Indian squad for the first two Tests against England.
Rohit Sharma and company will face England in a five-match series, with the first game to be played in Hyderabad from January 25. Jurel has been picked as one of three keepers in the 16-member Indian squad, with Srikar Bharat and KL Rahul being the other two. In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra reflected on Jurel’s short first-class career. He questioned whether Sarfaraz and Kishan merited a place ahead of the Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper-batter, elaborating
“Dhruv Jurel hasn’t played a lot of first-class cricket. He has played 15 matches only and scored a total of 790 runs in 19 innings. Of course, there is a highest score of nearly 250. 46.50 is not a bad average. He has scored one century and five fifties.”
The former Indian test opener further added:
“If you see it that way, you will say is that enough to be called for Test cricket? If this is enough, what should Sarfaraz do? What more can he do? Have we decided that Ishan Kishan won’t be considered until he goes back to first-class cricket and scores runs?”
Chopra acknowledged that Kishan had opted out of the recent Test series against South Africa. However, he questioned whether the Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter is still unavailable and will remain so for how long.
“I don’t see him playing” – Aakash Chopra on Dhruv Jurel’s place in India’s playing XI
Aakash Chopra doesn’t see Dhruv Jurel figuring in India’s playing XI. However, he acknowledged that KL Rahul might not keep wickets against England, saying
“Dhruv Jurel is an interesting choice. Firstly, I don’t see him playing. KL Rahul might not play as a keeper. That’s also a possibility because you might not want to play KL Rahul as a keeper in these conditions.”
The renowned commentator reckons the Karnataka player might struggle to keep on subcontinental tracks off Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel’s bowling. He stated:
“Catches were dropped in South Africa as well. Anyone can drop catches, but if you are playing Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar, and trying to make dustbowl-type pitches, you won’t get Rahul to keep.”
However, Chopra feels Rahul might play ahead of Shreyas Iyer as a pure batter because he is in better form. He concluded by opining that Srikar Bharat will keep wickets in the Test series against England.
Seeing the test squad selection for the first 2 matches it is quite evident that the Rahul Dravid led management will clearly prioritize the likes of KS Bharat over young Dhruv Jurel and the likes of Sarfaraz Khan and Ishan Kishan still needs to prove themselves playing the Ranji trophy the eligibility to qualify for specialist test wicket keeper batter atleast for now.