The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has finally named a replacement for injured Rishabh Pant. Just a few hours before the first one-day international between India and New Zealand, the board has confirmed that Dhruv Jurel has been added to the India squad. He replaces Rishabh Pant, who has been diagnosed with a side strain. Pant got injured while batting in the nets on the eve of the first ODI in Vadodara.
Pant had joined the squad only a day earlier after finishing his Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) commitments with Delhi and was eager to fine-tune himself for the series opener. During an extended batting session at the BCA Ground B, he was struck just above the waist on the ribs by a throwdown specialist.
He grimaced in pain, was attended to by the support staff, including head coach Gautam Gambhir, and eventually walked off the field, unable to continue. MRI scans later confirmed an internal oblique muscle tear, ruling him out of the entire three-match ODI series.
Why Dhruv Jurel is the perfect replacement
Jurel has been in outrageous form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy and had arguably done everything possible to force the selectors’ hand even before Pant’s injury. Playing for Uttar Pradesh, the 24-year-old has piled up 558 runs in seven innings at a staggering average of 93.00 and a strike rate of 122.91. His tally includes four fifties and a magnificent unbeaten 160 against Baroda, the highest individual List-A score for UP. In the last league game against Bengal, he hammered 123 off just 96 balls.
Jurel has been batting at No. 3 in the tournament, showing he can anchor an innings as well as accelerate when required, a skill he had already displayed in the lower middle order in Tests and T20Is. Across List-A cricket (excluding the Emerging Asia Cup), Jurel now owns 716 runs at an extraordinary average of 89.50 with a strike rate of 113.29.
Jurel is already part of the Indian Test team and is familiar with the environment. He has been chosen over Ishan Kishan, who was touted to be in the original squad as per reports. Kishan, part of the Indian T20I squad for the World Cup, could’ve been in the ODI setup as well in order to get used to the current coaching staff. However, the BCCI has rewarded Jurel, who was also part of the previous series when Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer weren’t there.
India’s updated ODI squad for New Zealand series
Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (WK).
More to follow…
Cricket
Pakistan offers to host Bangladesh's T20 World Cup matches amid standoff with India, ICC
