India’s 5-match Test series against England gave the team management the opportunity to try some of the next-generation stars. The likes of Sarfaraz Khan, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Akash Deep, and Dhruv Jurel, all made their debuts in the series, and produced performances worthy of cementing their places in the squad, to say the least. But, it has now been learned that some of these debuts didn’t come from the head coach Rahul Dravid, or skipper Rohit Sharma. Instead, it was the chief selector Ajit Agarkar who pushed the team management into selecting some of these players.
As per a report, Agarkar was the one who suggested Dhruv Jurel’s name for the wicket-keeper’s spot to coach Dravid and captain Rohit. The Indian team tried KS Bharat behind the stumps for the first couple of matches but the wicket-keeper batter didn’t manage to impress much. But, Dhruv, as soon as he came into the team, left an impressive impression both as a keeper and a batter.
“It was Agarkar who suggested Jurel’s name. The team management wasn’t too confident about him as he was still a rookie. Picking a youngster who hasn’t had much red-ball exposure at the top level straightaway into the Indian side for an important series like England was always going to be a brave call but Agarkar had seen enough to vouch for the youngster,” Hindustan Times quoted a BCCI source as saying.
Earlier, after the conclusion of the Dharamsala Test, Dravid himself had revealed that Agarkar was the one who had pushed him and Rohit into selecting some of the uncapped players in the team.
“A big shoutout to Ajit and his team as well. A lot of the youngsters that come in… as coach and as captain we don’t actually get to see a lot of them. We don’t see as much domestic cricket as Ajit and his team of selectors do. They have pushed us. They have challenged us to pick some of these youngsters and they have come out here and performed. It’s not easy being a selector. You always get the criticism but a big pat on the back to Ajit and his team,” Dravid had said in an interview with Jio Cinema.
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