Homework done, ‘kids’ await away assessment during India’s tour of Australia later this year

Dharmendra2 kumar

getcricketnews|28-02-2024

Thrown into the deep end, a bunch of young cricketers beat the rough waves to swim to the shores of success. That has been the story of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel in the ongoing Test series against England.

In fact, it can safely be said that the young brigade played the leading role in India's 17th straight Test series win at home. After losing the first Test, India staged an impressive turnaround and now have an unassailable 3-1 lead over England.

A stiff task awaited the rookies in the Indian camp with many first-choice players missing. Virat Kohli was not there, KL Rahul was ruled out after the first Test while Ravindra Jadeja could not play the second game in Visakhapatnam with a hamstring injury.However, these young cricketers ensured they grabbed the bull by the horns.

That the likes of Jaiswal (already with two double centuries in this series), Gill, Sarfaraz and Jurel never really got overawed by the situation and churned out quality knocks, reflects their strong

To speak of Sarfaraz, he didn't look comfortable in the just-concluded fourth Test, but then he hit back-to-back fifties in the Rajkot Test which helped India cross 400 in both innings.

And then there's Jurel, without whom India may not have sealed the series with the final Test, in Dharamsala from March 7, to spare. Composure, temperament and tenacity - the 23-year-old keeper-batter ticked all the boxes.

"You never know... Even after Rishabh Pant's return, Jurel could still retain his place in the XI as a specialist batter. He has proved he can be an asset to the team just as a batsman too," a BCCI insider told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

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