Exclusive | 'Good thought by the selection committee...': Coach Phoolchand Sharma explains Dhruv Jurel’s inclusion in India’s ODI squad for Australia series

Dhruv Jurel's childhood coach, Phoolchand Sharma, praised the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar for selecting the wicketkeeper batter in the upcoming three-match ODI series against Australia.

Jurel, who made his debut against England in 2024 during a Test match, has been added to India's ODI squad against Australia as a backup wicketkeeper alongside KL Rahul. In the exclusive conversation with Sports Tak, Phoolchand explained that Jurel has proved himself during the unofficial Test against Australia A and smashed a century in the last Test match against the West Indies. Phoolchand believes that Jurel is a perfect package for all formats, and he will surely cement his place in the Indian squad as a permanent wicketkeeper-batter.

Look, Dhruv is a three-format player. You saw that he improved himself in and proved in ODI and the test, everyone knows that he is doing batting today. Dhruv is a perfect package for all three formats. This is a good thought by the selection committee that they picked Jurel in the ODI setup," Phoolchand Sharma told Sports Tak.

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Dhruv Jurel's Test career

Jurel made his Test debut against England in 2024 at Rajkot. The wicketkeeper-batter has represented India in six Tests, where he scored 380 runs in nine innings. Jurel's last outing came in the first Test match against West Indies, where he smashed his maiden Test ton. He scored 125 runs in the opening Test against West Indies that helped the Men in Blue to register a dominating 140-run and an innings win at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Dhruv Jurel's next assignment

After the two Test match series against West Indies, Jurel will travel to Australia alongside the Shubman Gill-led side for the three-match ODI series, which will start from October 19.

India's squad for ODI series against Australia

Shubman Gill (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (VC), Axar Patel, KL Rahul (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal.