Dhruv Jurel enjoyed a wonderful time behind the wickets while playing for India A against India B in the ongoing first round of the Duleep Trophy as he equalled MS Dhoni's all-time Duleep Trophy record.
Jurel, 23, grabbed as many as seven catches while keeping the wickets for India A in the second innings against India B to equal Dhoni's 20-year-old record for the most catches by a wicketkeeper in an innings of a Duleep Trophy match.
Jurel accounted for Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Musheer Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Sai Kishore and Navdeep Saini to help his side India A bundle India B out for just 184 in the second innings of the match.
Notably, MS Dhoni had shattered Sunil Benjamin's record (six catches) of the most catches by a wicketkeeper in an innings of a Duleep Trophy match by taking seven catches while playing for East Zone against Central Zone in 2004-05.
Most catches by a wicketkeeper in an innings of a Duleep Trophy match
- MS Dhoni (East Zone) - 7 catches vs Central Zone in 2004-05
- Dhruv Jurel (India A) - 7 catches vs India B in 2024-25
- Sunil Benjamin (Central Zone) - 6 catches vs North Zone in 1973-74
- Sadanand Viswanat (South Zone) - 6 catches vs Central Zone in 1980-81
However, Jurel couldn't make the most out of his opportunities with the willow in hand. He was trapped in front of his stumps at an individual score of two by right-arm pacer Navdeep Saini in the first innings. In the second innings, Jurel suffered another heartbreak as he couldn't even trouble the scorers at all.
Left-arm speedster Yash Dayal induced his outside edge and it was safely held by Yashasvi Jaiswal in the slip cordon which forced Jurel to make his way back to the hutch for nought. Taking his scores into consideration it seems unlikely that he will be India's preferred wicketkeeping option during the Test series against Bangladesh.
Rishabh Pant is likely to find a place in India's playing XI for the Bangladesh series as the southpaw displayed glimpses of form in the Duleep Trophy. After missing out in the first innings, Pant scored 61 in the second and looked his dominant self in the game.
