'It took MS Dhoni 15 years to…': Sourav Ganguly after Sunil Gavaskar calls Dhruv Jurel 'another MSD'

Sourav Ganguly had his say on the Jurel-Dhoni comparison

In a series where four youngsters made their India debut, Dhruv Jurel’s was probably the most memorable one. After Rajat Patidar skidded off the runway, Sarfaraz Khan’s blistering twin fifties in Rajkot and Akash Deep’s wreckage of England’s top order with three quick wickets in Ranchi, Jurel’s knocks of steel in both innings of a Test match could well be labelled as the performance of this series. A big claim considering there’s Yashasvi Jaiswal’s tally of 652 runs, but that’s how good Jurel was.

In fact, so impressive was he that the legendary Sunil Gavaskar referred to him as ‘another MS Dhoni in the making’, and while the former India captain also mentioned that no one can be Dhoni, Jurel’s initial impressions have all the characteristics to make him an all-time great. Joining Gavaskar on the pro-Jurel bandwagon is Sourav Ganguly, who too is impressed with what he’s seen thus far of the 22-year-old, but at the same time, the former-BCCI chief is mindful about not getting too ahead of himself with Dhoni comparisons.

“Dhruv Jurel… what a Test match he had under pressure on a difficult wicket. There is huge talent and if you miss you and you go back down in the ladder, it will be very hard to come back. MS Dhoni is in a different league. Jurel has talent; there’s no doubt about it. But it took MS Dhoni 20 years to be MS Dhoni. Rather 15 years for Dhoni to be Dhoni. So let him [Jurel] play. Jurel’s ability to play spin, pace and most importantly to perform under pressure. That’s what you look for in a youngster,” Ganguly told RevSportz.

And rightly so. Jurel was the knight in shining armour for India in either inning of the Ranchi Test. In the first, with India struggling on 177/7, still 176 runs behind England’s total of 353, Jurel displayed tremendous resilience and put on a dogged 73-run partnership with Kuldeep Yadav en route to notching up his highest score of 90 – Jurel bettered the 46 he’d scored in the previous game – and took India to 307. The very next day, with India again in a spot of bother at 120/5 in chase of 192, Jurel struck another fine stand of 72 not out – this time with Shubman Gill – and remained unbeaten on 39 as the two took India over the line in what turned out to be a tricky chase.

What Gavaskar said

Gavaskar made the ‘another MSD remark’ on Day 2 of the 4th Test, shortly after Jurel had completed his half-century. The former India batter couldn’t help but notice Jurel’s calmness and composure – two traits that became synonymous with Dhoni and his career – and also the run out he inflicted on Ben Duckett in the second innings of the Rajkot Test.

“Of course he has batted well, but his keeping, his work behind the stumps has been equally brilliant. Just by looking at his game awareness, I want to say that he is another MS Dhoni in the making. I know there can never be another MSD but you know the presence of mind that he has, MSD also when he started, it was that. And Jurel has that game awareness. Street-smart cricketer,” Gavaskar had said on air.

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