Former Indian opening batter and commentator Aakash Chopra has clarified that the Indian team management shouldn’t choose between Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel after the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Chopra stated that the Indian team should have more specialist players instead of having too many all-rounders in the Test XI. While Pant scored 168 runs from three innings in the Sri Lanka Test series, Jurel amassed 173 runs from three innings.
“There is an ongoing debate on whether Dhruv Jurel or Rishabh Pant should be kept. Which way should India go if they have to play only one? I wonder why play only one? Until now, we were playing so many bowlers who could also bat, whether it’s Nitish Kumar Reddy or Washington Sundar,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“We were stopping at five batters. After that, you could see Washi at No. 6, Ravindra Jadeja at No. 7, and Nitish Kumar Reddy at No. 8, or the other way around, which I thought wasn’t a good idea. You need a batter at No. 6. In my opinion, it’s not a question at all,” he added.
“It’s actually an answer that Dhruv Jurel has been playing and scoring runs consistently, and there was no big name who was waiting for him to be played. In such a scenario, Dhruv Jurel is a certainty now, and let him be,” he noted.
Furthermore, Chopra pointed out Pant’s records and reckoned that he is undroppable. Notably, Pant has racked up 3725 runs at an average of 43.82 in 90 Test innings with eight centuries and 21 half-centuries.
“I asked for Rishabh Pant’s numbers to be brought out. He has scored the most centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper. He has scored eight. Most centuries by a wicketkeeper in England. He has scored four. Most sixes for India in Tests. He has hit 102. Most runs for India in WTC. It’s become 2,948,” he stated.
“Most 50-plus scores for India in WTC – 24. Most sixes for India in WTC – 82. Second-most sixes in WTC history. Ben Stokes has played many more matches. Rishabh Pant has the best average among Indians who have scored more than 2,000 runs at No. 5. He has an average of more than 55. So, let’s end that story here. I was reading these numbers so that you realise that there is no conversation,” he concluded.
