The opening Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, starting Friday, will see in-form wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. On Wednesday, India's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate gave the lead that the 24-year-old will be on the field, whereas the all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is likely to be left on the bench.
Jurel, who has only seven Tests to his name, has been incredibly good in local and ‘A’ matches and has scored four centuries in his last five first-class matches, one of which was double tons against South Africa ‘A’ in Bengaluru last week.
Management opts for a dual keeper-batter combination, such as Dhruv Jurel
With first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant returning after recovering from a foot fracture sustained during the Manchester Test against England in July, there were questions over how the management would accommodate both players. Ten Doeschate, however, made it clear that both will feature in the series opener.
“I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of the combination, and I don’t think you can leave them (Jurel and Pant) out for this Test — that’s the short answer,” Ten Doeschate said during a media interaction. “I would be very surprised if you don’t see Dhruv and Rishabh playing this week.”
Now more than a year into his international career, Jurel has displayed composure and maturity well beyond his experience. Since mid-September 2025, his first-class scores — 140, 56, 125, 44, 132* and 127* — have lifted his average from 47.34 to 58.00, making his inclusion inevitable.
“Given the way Dhruv has performed in the last six months, and scoring two hundreds in Bengaluru last week, he is certain to play,” the assistant coach added.
PTI had earlier reported on November 8 that Jurel would play as a specialist batter, with Pant reclaiming wicketkeeping duties. Ten Doeschate confirmed that Reddy would be the one making way.
Speaking about Reddy’s exclusion, Ten Doeschate said, “In the West Indies series, Nitish played both Tests and we said it was important to groom him for the future. But strategy comes first. Our goal is always to win, and development fits in where possible. Given the conditions and the importance of this series, he might miss out this week.”
The assistant coach also praised India’s lower-middle-order balance, crediting the team’s spin-bowling all-rounders for their versatility.
“Like I mentioned about Washi (Washington Sundar), Axar (Patel), and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja) — for me, you’ve actually got three batters there. So, it gives us a lot of flexibility,” he said, hinting that Axar Patel could replace Kuldeep Yadav in the XI.
Reddy, who featured in India’s 2–0 Test sweep in the West Indies, bowled only four overs in the opening match and went wicketless. His batting returns were modest — 43 runs from one innings — followed by scores of 19* and 8 in the subsequent ODI series against Australia.
(With PTI Inputs)
