BCCI announced the India squad for England test series scheduled to begin on January 25, 2024. During the England tour of India 2024, a total of 5 tests will be played across 5 different venues in India.
The Test series will be a part of the 2023–2025 ICC World Test Championship. England’s captain Ben Stokes, who underwent surgery on his left knee last month, is included in the squad as expected, though will not be fit to bowl.
Notably, the test matches played during the England Tour of India 2024 will be India’s first Test series in 2024.
India Squad for England Test
India has included Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel in their 16-man squad for the first two tests against England scheduled to be played in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam.
Jurel will not be the only wicketkeeper in India’s dugout. He will be accompanied by KS Bharat and KL Rahul who kept wickets in South Africa series.
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will open the inning while Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli will bat at no. 3 and no. 4. As per a report, KL Rahul is expected to focus on his batting, which would put pressure on Shreyas Iyer’s position, who wasn’t among the runs in South Africa recently.
While speaking on the bowling unit, apart from Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India included Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel to strengthen India’s bowling attack.
Mohammed Shami, who is recovering from an ankle injury he picked up during the World Cup has been left out of the squad while Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Avesh Khan will lead the pace attack.
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Avesh Khan
Who is Dhruv Jurel?
The right-handed batter and wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel was born on January 21, 2001, and plays for Uttar Pradesh in domestic cricket and for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Jurel made his IPL debut last season and seems to be going from strength to strength from then on.
Jurel made his Twenty20 debut on 10 January 2021 for Uttar Pradesh in the 2020–21 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Prior to his T20 debut, he was named as the vice-captain of India’s squad for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
He made his List A debut on 14 July 2023, for India A against United Arab Emirates A, in the 2023 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup.
He was named in the squad for the Emerging Teams Asia Cup soon after and then travelled to South Africa with the India A team, going on to keep wickets in the second unofficial Test.
He is also part of the team that will take on the England Lions in the first multi-day fixture in Ahmedabad, starting January 17. The 22-year-old has featured in 15 first-class games, scoring at an average of 46.47.
