Opinion: Rishabh Pant or Dhruv Jurel? Who should keep wickets for India in test series against Bangladesh

Rishabh Pant’s last test match was in December 2022.

India will kick off their long test cricket season with a two-match test series against Bangladesh at home, starting on September 19. They will also host New Zealand for three test matches before embarking on a five-test tour of Australia in November.

Barring the injured Mohammed Shami, India have all their players fit and available. The team missed a few stars during the home test series against England earlier this year, and despite that, thrashed Ben Stokes’ team 4-1.

For the first test against Bangladesh, the new head coach Gautam Gambhir will have a tough decision to make regarding the wicket-keeper’s spot. India have picked Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel in their squad.

Pant made his ODI and T20I comeback earlier this year and this is his return to the test squad since his car accident in December 2022, the same month he played his last test, in Bangladesh and scored 93 off 104 in India’s first innings in that game.

In his absence, India gave opportunities to KS Bharat, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul and Dhruv Jurel in the wicket-keeper’s. Bharat failed to grab his chances while Kishan was dropped for non-cricketing reasons. Jurel grabbed his chances against England and impressed everyone with his temperament with the bat and skillset with the gloves.

In four innings against England, Jurel scored 190 runs at an average of 63. He played two crucial, match-winning knocks of 90 and 39* in the Ranchi test on a pitch that turned considerably.

Rishabh Pant likely to be picked over Jurel in first Bangladesh test

As impressive as Jurel was against England, he is likely to be consigned to being the backup keeper as Pant is the incumbent keeper-batsman in the test setup. Pant had established and cemented his place as India’s first-choice keeper-batter in the test XI before his car accident.

Of the three formats, he has his best record in test cricket. In 33 tests, he averages 43 with five centuries and 11 fifties. He is the only Indian wicket-keeper in history to score test centuries in Australia, England, and South Africa. Four of his five test centuries are outside India.

Also, he’s made a strong case for his selection. On his return to red-ball cricket in the first round of the Duleep Trophy, on a pitch where no team scored more than 330, Pant top-scored in India B’s second innings by smashing 61 runs off 47 balls with nine fours and two sixes.

With the Australia tour in mind, where he has been highly successful on his two trips (average of 62 in seven tests Down Under), India are expected to slot Pant in the XI straightaway.

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