"If that 90-run knock had not come, you would have been standing at 2-2" - Aakash Chopra lauds Dhruv Jurel's series-defining performance in Ranchi
Aakash Chopra has picked Dhruv Jurel's half-century in India's first innings of the fourth Test against England as one of the best performances of the recently concluded series.
Jurel scored 90 runs off 149 deliveries in Ranchi to help limit India's first-innings deficit to 46 runs. The hosts eventually won the game by five wickets to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra picked Jasprit Bumrah's 6/45 in Visakhapatnam, Ollie Pope's 196 in Hyderabad, Yashasvi Jaiswal's 209 in Visakhapatnam and Ravindra Jadeja's all-round effort in Rajkot as the four best performances of the series. He chose Jurel's 90-run knock at the fifth position, reasoning (5:55):
"At No. 5, I have got Dhruv Jurel. The knock he played in Ranchi, if that 90-run knock had not come, you would have been standing at 2-2. If you were at 2-2, no one knows what might have happened in Dharamsala."
While praising Jurel for planning his innings perfectly, the former India opener added that the wicketkeeper-batter played a vital knock in the second innings as well.
"Dhruv Jurel batted with the tail, played fast bowling well, and hit many big shots too. His contribution in the second innings was also extremely crucial. So I have kept Dhruv Jurel's amazing Player of the Match performance at No. 5," Chopra noted.
Jurel (39* off 77) joined Shubman Gill (52* off 124) in the middle when India were reduced to 120/5 in their second innings in pursuit of a 192-run target. The duo added 72 runs for the sixth wicket to take the hosts over the line.
"Wickets kept falling from the other end" - Aakash Chopra praises Yashasvi Jaiswal's Vizag double hundred
As for picking Yashasvi Jaiswal's double century in the second Test in Visakhapatnam as the third-best performance of the series, he said (4:00):
"At No. 3, I have kept Yashasvi Jaiswal's double century in Vizag. Why am I saying that? In Vizag also, your start wasn't good, you were stumbling. In fact, wickets kept falling from the other end. Yashasvi Jaiswal struck two double hundreds (in the series)."
The reputed commentator noted that the opener contributed more than 50% of India's 396-run total.
"He didn't get a single Player of the Match award in the entire series. He did win the Player of the Series award in the end but one guy scored more than 50% of the runs during that 209-run knock and he is a 22-year-old kid. It was absolutely outstanding," Chopra stated.
Jaiswal's 209-run knock was studded with 19 fours and seven sixes. He followed that up with an unbeaten 214 in the third Test in Rajkot and amassed 712 runs in the series, which was the highest aggregate by a huge margin.