India Coach's Stunning Rishabh Pant vs Dhruv Jurel Playing XI Revelation Stumps All

The selection dilemma over India's wicket-keeping spot in the Indian team was all but resolved, as assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate all but confirmed that both Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel will be in India's playing XI for the series opener against South Africa in Kolkata. The first match, which begins on November 14, sees Pant return to the fold for the first time since the conclusion of the England tour. But, with Jurel in arguably the form of his life, he becomes undroppable, putting the team management in a fix.

Though a team should be able to fit multiple in-form players in the playing XI, the task becomes herculean when it comes to doing so with two wicket-keepers. Yet, Ten Doeschate feels the management can resolve this conundrum.

"I don't think you can leave him out for this test, is the short answer. But obviously, you can only pick 11 as well. So someone else will have to miss out. I think we've got a pretty good idea of the combination. Given the way Dhruv's gone in the last six months, scoring two hundreds in Bangalore last week, he's certain to play this week," the Dutchman said in a press conference on Wednesday.

With the likes of Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, and Ravindra Jadeja being all-rounders, India are spoilt for choice in the spin-bowling department. Kuldeep Yadav, unarguably India's No. 1 spinner at the moment, didn't get to feature on the tour of England but is likely to be preferred in home conditions.

Ten Doeschate refused to confirm which of the two, among the three spin-bowling all-rounders, will be preferred. But, there's no question over Pant and Jurel's spots in the team.

"Again, like what I mentioned about Washi, Axar, Jadu, for me, you've actually got three batters there. So it does give us a lot of flexibility. But I would be very surprised if you don't see Dhruv and Rishabh playing in this test this week," he said, concluding his response to the question.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team South Africa Cricket Team Dhruv Jurel Rishabh Pant Ryan ten Doeschate India vs South Africa 2025, India Cricket