"It should not go against him" - Aakash Chopra's big statement on Dhruv Jurel after Day 2 of IND vs WI 2025 1st Test

Former India opener Aakash Chopra reckons that Dhruv Jurel has the ability to play as a specialist Test batter. He opined that his keeping skills should be seen as an added advantage instead of coming in the way of his selection in the playing XI.

Team India continued their domination on Day 2 of the first Test against West Indies at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, October 3. Resuming their first innings on 121-2, they went to stumps at 448-5, with a lead of 286 runs. Apart from Jurel (125), KL Rahul (100) and Ravindra Jadeja (104*) also hit hundreds, while skipper Shubman Gill scored exactly 50.

Jurel got a chance to feature in the playing XI since Rishabh Pant hasn't recovered fully from the injury he sustained during the England tour. The 24-year-old had also kept wickets in The Oval Test after Pant was ruled out. Speaking after the second day's play in Ahmedabad, former India opener Chopra asserted that Jurel is good enough to play as a frontline batter if he is not picked as a keeper-batter.

"He definitely can. The way he has batted, he has shown that he has the ability. Whenever he has got the opportunity to bat, he has demonstrated that his ability is no less than that of a top-order batter. The fact that he is a keeper is a skill that should go in his favor. It should not go against him. Jurel can definitely play as a specialist batter," Chopra told ESPN Cricinfo.

Coming into bat at No. 5 in the Ahmedabad Test against West Indies on Friday, Jurel scored 125 off 210 balls, hitting 15 fours and three sixes. The keeper-batter featured in a 206-run stand for the fifth wicket with Jadeja.

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Dhruv Jurel has played one Test as specialist batter

The ongoing match against West Indies in Ahmedabad is Jurel's sixth Test for India. So far, he has played only one match as a specialist batter. Both Pant and Jurel were part of the playing XI in the first Test against Australia in Perth in November 2024. The latter, however, struggled against some high-quality bowling. He scored 11 in the first innings and was trapped lbw for one in the second.

Looking at his overall Test stats in a short career so far, the right-handed batter has scored 380 runs in nine innings at an average of 47.50, with one hundred and one fifty to his name.