NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant will deservedly reclaim his wicketkeeping gloves and preferred batting position, but Dhruv Jurel’s sparkling run of form is unlikely to be overlooked by the Indian team management and national selection committee. Jurel is expected to feature purely as a batter in the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa.

Record alert! Dhruv Jurel rewrites history books with sensational performance against South Africa A

Kolkata Test brings selection dilemma

Jurel had kept wickets in the last three Tests for India — at The Oval, Ahmedabad, and Delhi — while Pant recovered from an ankle fracture. Pant’s return, however, has made the selection of the playing eleven a slightly tricky puzzle ahead of the first Test in Kolkata, starting in less than a week.

Since the start of the home season, Jurel’s form has been exceptional. His sequence of scores reads 140, 1 & 56, 125, 44 & 6, 132 & 127 not out. With three centuries, including a Test ton, one half-century, and another 40-plus score in his last eight first-class innings, Jurel has made a strong case for inclusion.

A BCCI source privy to the selection discussions, speaking to PTI on condition of anonymity, said, “Jurel is likely to play as a specialist batter. Ideally, there are two slots where he could be fitted in. One was Sai Sudharsan at No. 3, but he has a half-century in his last Test, and the team management wants a settled No. 3.”

“The other option is Nitish Kumar Reddy, but he can’t be played ahead of Jurel considering that his bowling won’t be required much in these Indian conditions,” the source added.

There were reportedly serious discussions about including Devdutt Padikkal in the Delhi Test after Reddy bowled only four overs in Ahmedabad, and even then, only in the first innings. At the Kotla, Padikkal was promoted up the order to get more batting time but wasn’t given an opportunity to bowl.

Middle-Order plans for Jurel

While Gautam Gambhir has advocated for batting till No. 8, the head coach is expected to give Jurel a longer run in the middle order, especially with India likely to play three spinners and two pace bowlers.

Instances of two specialist keepers in a Test playing eleven are rare. While Mahendra Singh Dhoni has shared the field with Dinesh Karthik, Parthiv Patel, and Rishabh Pant in white-ball cricket, only Kiran More and Chandrakant Pandit played as dual keepers in Tests — one in England and one in India back in 1986, with Pandit playing as a specialist batter.

(With PTI Inputs)