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“Sacrifice Nitish Reddy…”: Ex-Opener wants Pant and Jurel to play Kolkata Test vs SA

Aakash Saini

Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel [Source: @BCCI/x, AFP]Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel [Source: @BCCI/x, AFP]

Rishabh Pant is set to make his return to international cricket through India’s upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa. The cricketer had sustained a nasty foot injury back in England, which prompted him to miss out on India’s home series against West Indies and the entire white-ball tour of Australia.

Notably, Rishabh Pant’s absence coincided with the unprecedented rise of another wicketkeeper-batter, young Dhruv Jurel. Ever since replacing Pant at The Oval for the series-decider against England, Jurel has been averaging close to 100 in first-class cricket.

Aakash Chopra says Dhruv Jurel deserves to play for India

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra is of the opinion that while “generational talent” and comeback man Rishabh Pant will definitely play India’s series-opening Test against South Africa at the Eden Gardens, the Indian team management should also accommodate in-form Dhruv Jurel into the team because of his prolific run off late.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, the cricketer-turned-commentator said:

“The team has been selected and both Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant are there. Rishabh Pant will play. Rishabh Pant is the vice-captain. So he is going to play and he should play. He is a generational talent if you talk about Test cricket, but I feel Dhruv Jurel should also be played. A place should be created for him in the XI.”

Between Sai Sudharsan and Nitish Kumar Reddy in the middle-order, Aakash Chopra believes the Indian team management should drop the latter from the playing XI considering the all-rounder has not been utilized to his fullest. The cricketer believes that Dhruv Jurel can replace Nitish Reddy in the playing XI that way. He added:

“The question will be whether you will compromise Sai Sudharsan from the top or Nitish Kumar Reddy from below. I think Sai Sudharsan should be allowed to play at No. 3. You haven’t got Nitish Kumar Reddy to do his job properly thus far. So you can actually sacrifice him and keep Dhruv Jurel there.”

The first Test of the two-match series between India and South Africa will commence from November 14 onwards later this week. The series will also constitute a part of the ongoing 2025-27 WTC cycle.