India v England: ‘Found balance perfectly’ – Alastair Cook explains why Dhruv Jurel was so impressive in fourth Test

Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook has heaped praise on India wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel for his role in his team’s victory in the fourth Test against India as they sealed the series 3-1.

Jurel played a starring performance, scoring 90 in the first innings and then joining Shubman Gill at the crease in the second innings and scoring 39 not out to see the team through to the close to secure the win.

Speaking afterwards, Cook said he felt that Jurel’s ability as a top-order batter to know when to attack and when to defend is what separates him from someone like Ravindra Jadeja, who is more of an all-rounder.

“Jadeja in particular showed probably why he should be batting a little bit lower.” Cook explained. “Yes he can score runs but the ability, under pressure, to find that balance between attack and defence under pressure – pressure does funny thing to you.

"Jadeja is a world-class all-rounder, but batting at five there he struggled in terms of taking no risks because he didn’t want to get out or trying to put a bit of pressure back on as a batter.

“But Jurel found that balance perfectly with his feet movement and sharpness of mind.”

Cook was then asked by fellow pundit Steven Finn what in particular stood out to him about Jurel.

“What impressed me was how he picked length. He was so fast at making the right decision. You see his trigger movement – this was at the start of the partnership on a wide ball – but he’s so good at getting back and forward and making the right decision at the right time for that ball.

“Shubman Gill played slightly differently, he’s not quite as quick on his feet but he’s still a class player but Jurel, he does a little forward press and if he does need to go forward he’s sharp, he’s quick and that little bit more explosion means when he plays a shot he might be able to get a single.

“Jadeja was just dead-batting everything, there’s no chance of getting any runs whatsoever. So even when Jurel is defending because he’s so sharp when he’s tucking the ball on the leg-side if it’s perfect he may get a run.

“And that’s just the balancing act that slightly better players have – and I’m not calling Jadeja a bad player at all, he [Jurel] might just have slightly better ball manoeuvring than Jadeja.”

Cook’s thoughts were echoed by India captain Rohit Sharma when he was giving his opinion on the game after the match.

Sharma was asked what he makes of players like Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav digging deep and batting long despite their primary roles being as a keeper and bowler.

“It clearly tells me that they want to be here, all the hard work they’ve done in the past coming through the whole all circuit of domestic cricket and the coming here," he said.

“It’s a big challenge to play Test match cricket but these guys, when I look at them and I talk to them, the responses that I get are quite encouraging.

“My job and Rahul Dravid’s job is to give them the environment they want to be in.

“When they come here they are very clear about what they want to do, Jurel in particular playing his second game showed solid composure, calmness and he’s got the shots as well.

“He’s played all around the wicket and the first-innings 90 was very, very crucial for us to get close to that first-innings total that England got.

“And then in the second-innings he showed a lot of composure, a lot of maturity with Shubman Gill.”

India have now secured the series 3-1 with just one game remaining in the five-match Test series. The final Test will start on March 7 in Dharamsala.

You can watch the rest of the series live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

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