India weigh up intriguing option of Jurel as keeper, Pant as batter

The ball was flying out of the far net at the Kent County Cricket ground in Beckenham during India's training on Thursday morning. Tuck, tuck, tuck, the comforting noise of ball hitting bat echoed around the empty ground as ball after ball landed on the green plastic seats behind long-on and in the small grassy mound shaded by trees beyond cow corner. A few lofted drives landed around wide long-off too.

Clad in a tight, short-sleeved white T-shirt under a blue India vest, Dhruv Jurel launched smartly into effervescent strokeplay.

Jurel would soon be tested by India bowling coach Morne Morkel, the former South Africa quick delivering from 20 yards and testing his stumps as well as his outside edge. Jurel did not flinch or stutter in his defence and was firm in his stride. Part of why Jurel has been a success ever since his Test debut last year against England at home is that he has a solid and fluent technique that allows him defend and attack. It makes his batting looked assured.

The son of a former army man, Jurel's body language is chest-out, chin-up, smile, and a walk with a confident stride. The clarity and commitment in his batting have helped him play match-wining innings like the 90 in the first innings of the Ranchi Test against England.

On a low, turning pitch where a horizontal bat was often fatal, Jurel negotiated Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley admirably despite playing in the company of India's tail. Jurel charged at anything remotely in his arc to hit over mid-on, mid-wicket and mid-off, and swept confidently when the line was outside leg stump. He brought India back into the match from a dire position, and duly earned the Player-of-the-Match award.

Just as he had impressed with bold knocks of 80 and 68 in testing conditions in the warm-up match preceding the Border-Gavaskar Trophy late last year in Australia, Jurel put himself in the shop window once again upon arriving in England, with three half-centuries against England Lions in the two unofficial Tests in June. If the Canterbury pitch in the first match was dead flat, overcast conditions posed a good challenge and Jurel showed skill and patience while constructing a healthy partnership with KL Rahul.

All that, unfortunately for him, did not earn him a spot in the first three Tests mainly because Rishabh Pant remains indispensable even with an injured finger and India prefer batting depth and bowling options in the form of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar. On Thursday, though, India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate said Jurel remained a viable option for the Old Trafford Test next week in case Pant, who hurt his left index finger while intercepting a leg-side delivery from Jasprit Bumrah during the first innings at Lord's, was not fit to keep wickets.

Even as a wicketkeeper, Jurel is rated highly by experts like former India glovesman Dinesh Karthik. Speaking on Sky Cricket during the Lord's Test where Jurel replaced Pant behind the stumps, Karthik observed that Jurel had strong basics including a well-balanced set-up that allowed him to brilliantly pouch Ollie Pope off Ravindra Jadeja. On Thursday, Jurel did keeping drills under the guidance of India's fielding coach T Dilip who stressed the importance of taking the ball in the line of the body.

So if Jurel does play and Pant takes on a specialist batting role, who goes out of the XI that played the third Test? The likely options are Karun Nair, Reddy and Washington. Nair has failed to convert several starts in the first three Tests, but India might persist with him given that No. 3 might be too high a slot for either the keeper or the allrounders, and that Shubman Gill and Pant are settled at Nos. 4 and 5. Washington will be optimistic about retaining his spot not only because he found ample drift and picked up vital wickets in both innings at Lord's, but also because Old Trafford is known to offer bounce to spinners. That leaves Reddy, who picked up important top-order wickets in both innings at Lord's, but hasn't yet found the batting form that made him such a find during his debut series in Australia.

It will be a difficult decision in each case, but if he's needed, Jurel will be ready to take on the job, chest out and chin up.