Dhruv Jurel's emergence as a significant talent on the international cricket stage is the result of enduring four-hour daily sessions of spin bowling, along with countless throwdowns, and facing 14 different bowlers in a single net practice. This rigorous preparation heralded his arrival with an understated confidence.
As the son of a Kargil war hero, Jurel made a quietly effective debut in Rajkot and virtually cemented his place in the Test team with a meticulously crafted 90 in the first innings of the fourth Test against England on February 25.
Dhruv Jure's 18 months of intense effort
The journey for the 23-year-old from Agra to refine his skills spanned approximately 18 months of intense effort. His game, reminiscent of MS Dhoni's strategic acumen, has earned accolades from cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar.
Zubin Bharucha, a former Mumbai cricketer and the High Performance Director of the Rajasthan Royals, discussed Jurel's dedication to advancing his game and his extreme physical training regimen at the RR High Performance Academy in Talegaon prior to the Test series against England.
"We have been preparing for the last 18 months taking the version (T20, ODI's or Test matches) out of the equation and the practice and merely focusing on the how and where runs can be scored," Bharucha, who helped Yashasvi Jaiswal in developing his power game for international cricket, told PTI.
Bharucha, who was a teammate of Ravi Shastri, Sachin Tendulkar, Sanjay Manjrekar, and Vinod Kambli in the highly competitive Mumbai team during the early to mid-1990s, shared a remarkable statistic.
"Just before the (debut) Test match he came to the RR HPC in Talegaon and batted for 140 overs in a day, it took over four hours on different spinning surfaces. It was a monumental practice session, one of the few that matched Jaiswal's long sessions," Bharucha revealed.
How Dhruv Jurel cracked Test's code?
In Test cricket, a single day typically features 90 overs, equivalent to 540 balls, not counting the extras. However, achieving 140 overs means facing 840 deliveries in a single day. Bharucha elaborated on how this feat was accomplished.
“All (bowlers and throwdown men) are standing there at the same time. And the sequence is one throws for the flick. Next one for the cut. Next one for the pull. Next one for the straight drive. We do this on multiple surfaces (spinning, grass, bounce, wet cement), with multiple types of balls (rubber, tennis, cricket) and multiple types of bats (heavy/light/thin etc).”
"Within this also we have one bunch who do it with the hand and the next bunch who do it with the wanger (throwdown apparatus Roboarm). Behind them are the spinners, and behind them the fast bowlers. So, one round in the nets would comprise around 14 people throwing, wanging and bowling, as opposed to the traditional way, where you may have like three spinners and three fast bowlers (for example) bowling one round. That's how we got through 140 overs in a day's practice for Dhruv," he said.
Meanwhile, Jurel revealed his Kargil War veteran father's request after unleashing special ‘salute’ celebration post cracking a match-saving maiden Test fifty in the ongoing fourth match England in Ranchi.
“My father indirectly told me yesterday, ‘Ek salute to dikha de (show me the salute once)’. He was a Kargil War veteran, so my celebrations were for him,” Dhruv Jurel said in the post-match press conference.
WITH PTI INPUTS
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