Indian cricket team wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel has been added to Group C of BCCI’s central contract.
Besides Jurel, batter Sarfaraz Khan was also handed a Group C annual contract with the two names ratified during the BCCI Apex Council meeting on Monday.
The Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has structured its contract for Indian cricketers into four groups – A+, A, B and C. The Group C contract comes with an annual retainership fee of Rs 1 crore.
From the Rajasthan Royals team, Dhruv Jurel is now the sixth cricketer to have a BCCI central contract.
Ravichandran Ashwin has a Grade A contract, Yashasvi Jaiswal is in Group B while Sanju Samson, Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna are in Group C. Prasidh, however, will be sidelined from the upcoming Indian Premier League season due to injury.
Dhruv Jurel needed to play three Test matches in the current season in order to fulfil BCCI’s criteria to get a contract.
The 23-year-old Dhruv Jurel made his Test debut in the third match against England at Rajkot in the recently concluded five-match series. He walked in when India were 331/6 and scored a gritty 46.
In the second Test in Ranchi, Jurel scored 90 in the first innings and 39 not out in the second, and guided India to victory in a challenging chase. He was named Player of the Match.
In the first innings, Jurel walked out to the crease at 161/5, which soon became 177/7. With the help of the tailenders, he guided India to 307. In the second innings, chasing 192 for the win, Jurel came to bat at 120/5, with India having lost their five wickets for just 36 runs, and steered India to victory.
The performance sparked India cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar, who was commentating during the Test, to compare Jurel to MS Dhoni, who often pulled his team home from precarious situations.
Dhruv Jurel played his third Test at Dharamsala, where India wrapped up the series 4-1.
Jurel will be in action next for the Royals in IPL 2024. The team’s first match is against the Lucknow Super Giants on March 24.
