Dhruv Jurel received his Test cap from veteran wicket-keeping batter Dinesh Karthik ahead of the third Test of their five-match series at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Rajkot.

Jurel came in for KS Bharat as India’s wicket-keeping option for the third Test. Jurel earned his maiden Test call-up but sat on the bench for the first two matches of the series.

Jurel emerged as a finisher for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023. He went on to score 152 runs in 13 matches at a staggering strike rate of 172.73. It was his aggressive stroke play in the death overs, which got him into the limelight.

He made his debut for the Royals in 2021 and went on to play 23 matches and scored 244 runs and maintained an average of 137.7. He was picked up for a base price of Rs 20 Lakhs in the auction.

Jurel represented India in the U19 World Cup In 2020 as the vice-captain, where India ended up as runners up after losing to Bangladesh in the final match. His only impactful performance in the tournament was 52 off 48 deliveries against Sri Lanka.

Jurel has featured in 10 List-A games for Uttar Pradesh and scored 189 runs in 7 innings at an average of 47.25 with 2 fifties to his name.

Jurel made his first-class debut for UP in 2021-22 Ranji Trophy season and in the 15 matches that he has played so far, he has scored 790 runs at an average of 46.47. In the 19 innings, he scored 1 century and 3 half centuries.

In December 2022, Jurel opened the batting for Uttar Pradesh and scored 249 runs off 329 deliveries against Nagaland in a Ranji Trophy match. In 6 games, he racked up 429 runs at an average of 71.50. He finished off as team’s 2nd highest run-scorer, next to Rinku Singh.

Jurel made List-A debut for India A in the Asian Cricket Council Cup and scored 31 runs in the 3 innings of the tournament. He also scored 69 runs for India A against South Africa in Benoni last year.

England took the lead in the five-match series, with a nail-biting 28-run win in Hyderabad before losing the second Test in Vizag by 106 runs.

England will be aiming to become the first team in 11 years to beat India in a Test series in India. Interestingly, the last team to achieve this feat was Alastair Cook’s England side in 2012/13.