Dhruv Jurel batted for 140 overs in a day: Rajasthan Royals' High Performance Director opens up on keeper-batter’s extensive preparations 

Rajasthan Royals' High Performance Director Zubin Bharucha, who is also a former Mumbai batter, has opened up on how Dhruv Jurel put in the extra yards during practice ahead of his Test debut against England. Bharucha revealed that the youngster batted for 140 overs in a day at RR High Performance Academy in Talegaon.

23-year-old Jurel starred in India’s fightback in their first innings in Ranchi against England. After the hosts had slipped to 177/7 in response to England’s 353, Jurel hit a defiant 90 off 149 balls to ensure India crossed the 300-run mark.

Speaking to news agency PTI, Bharucha shed light on the young UP batter’s arduous preparation for the big test against England. He said that preparations had been going on for the last 18 months and elaborated:

"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, who was part of Mumbai’s batting line-up featuring Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli in the 1990s, explained the process of 'bowling' 140 overs in a day. He stated, unlike the traditional way, here all bowlers and throwdown men are ready together for practice and throw for different strokes like flick, cut and pull one after the other.

Jurel’s hard work at the RR High Performance Academy in Talegaon seems to be paying rich dividends. Before his 90 in Ranchi, he had scored a crucial 46 off 104 balls in the first innings of the Rajkot Test.

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“Don't regret missing the hundred” - Jurel

While Jurel played a fantastic knock to lift India in the first innings of the Ranchi Test, he missed out on a hundred by 10 runs. For someone playing in only his second Test, it would have been the cherry on top of the cake. However, the 23-year-old has no regrets about missing out on three figures.

"I don't regret a bit on missing the hundred. It's my debut Test series, I'm just desperate to lift this trophy in my hands. It's always a childhood dream to play for India in Tests," he said at the press conference after end of the third day’s play.

"It's my debut Test series, obviously there will be some pressure. But when I got in, I just thought of what the team needed from me. The longer I stay here and make runs the better for me," he added on his game plan during his knock.

After India lost seven wickets for 177 runs, Jurel added 76 runs with Kuldeep Yadav and 40 with Akash Deep to boost the hosts’ total.