With Rishabh Pant back in the Indian Test squad, wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel may return to the bench. However, Jurel proved his batting value on Thursday at the BCCI Centre of Excellence, scoring a sublime unbeaten 132 (175b; 12×4; 4×6) for India ‘A’ against South Africa ‘A’. This was his third century in seven innings, including a previous 125 against the West Indies in Ahmedabad.On day one of the second four-day match, Jurel stood tall as India ‘A’ were bowled out for 255 in 77.1 overs.Jurel was left to score more than 50% of his team’s runs after other batters, barring KL Rahul (19) and Rishabh Pant (24), made it seem like they were batting on a different pitch.On a surface with a grass cover and seam conditions, India ‘A’ were struggling at 69/4 in the 29th over, when Jurel came out to bat. What he put up thereafter was a fine display of caution, controlled aggression, and fine stroke play.Jurel got down to business straight away. He opened his account by stepping out against off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen (2/73) and sending the ball over the long-on boundary for a six.Backed by impeccable timing and deft footwork, in the next over, Jurel targeted left-arm pacer Tiaan Van Vuuren (4/52), finding two boundaries to put pressure on the opposition. Jurel punished every loose delivery as he went about piling runs, even as he lost a couple of partners at the other end. With Kuleep Yadav (20; 88b), Jurel stitched together a defining 79-run (173 balls) partnership for the eighth wicket, which ended with a mix-up between the batters and Kuldeep found himself short of the crease. Jurel, who brought up his 50 in 62 deliveries, completed his century in 145 deliveries, with a single down the leg side.Jurel continued with the same intensity until he ran out of partners in the 78th over as Prasidh Krishna offered a return catch to Van Vuuren.Earlier, South Africa ‘A’ invited the new-look India ‘A’ team to bat. Tshepo Moreki (2/52) struck in the second over, when Abhimanyu Easwaran was beaten by swing and seam to be trapped leg-before.At the other end, Rahul looked at ease. With good bounce and carry, Rahul weathered it by playing close to the body and found the gaps regularly. But he went for a drive against Van Vuuren and offered an edge to wicketkeeper Connor Esterhuizen.With plenty of assistance for the bowlers in the first hour, India ‘A’ lost some quick wickets. Pant, in his typical style, started well. He found some quick runs against Subrayen, with a sweep shot which found the boundary and danced down the track for a maximum. But after taking a hit on the thumb, on the next delivery, he tried to launch Tshepo Moreki (2/52) over mid-off but miscued it to Marques Ackerman.Brief scores: India ‘A’ (1st innings: 255) all out in 77.1 overs (Dhruv Jurel 132 n.o.; Tshepo Moreki 2-52, Prenelan Subrayen 2-73, Tiaan Van Vuuren 4-52) vs South Africa ‘A’
