New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals (RR) batting coach Vikram Rathour said he is confident that Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel will excel in the upcoming five-match Test tour of England.

At the same time, Rathour, the former India batting coach who made his Test debut on the tour of England in 1996, feels the upcoming series will be a tough tour for the side who are without the recently retired duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

With RR ending their IPL 2025 season with a six-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Jaiswal and Jurel will have some time off before leaving for England with the India ‘A’ team, who are slated to play two four-day games against the England Lions.

The first of those two games begins on May 30 in Canterbury, and is followed by India ‘A’ featuring in an ‘intra-squad’ game against the main Test team from June 13 in Beckenham, before the Test series starts on June 20 in Headingley. This will also be the first time Jaiswal and Jurel will play international cricket in England.

“Jaiswal has already played some outstanding knocks after the start he’s got at the international level, and Dhruv Jurel as well. I think he’s got great temperament, that kid. He’s got great technique as well as a batsman. So, it’s going to be a tough tour.”

“It’s not going to be an easy tour because the seniors have retired, and a young team is leaving. There could be a new captain. So, all these things will add a little bit of pressure, but also it’s an opportunity to showcase your talent and your ability. So, both of them have a lot of talent, and I’m pretty sure that they’ll do well,” said Rathour in the post-match press conference.

With India undergoing a major transition in their Test team and the start of a new World Test Championship cycle looming, a section of the chatter has been dominated by thoughts of what if Rohit, Virat and Ravichandran Ashwin could have stayed for longer time. Rathour, though, had a different perspective to it.

“See, retirement is something which is very, very personal, I think. See, all three of them were phenomenal cricketers who retired. So, I would have loved for them to carry on. But it’s, again, a very, very personal decision.”

“I’m close to all three of them. So, I would have, as I said, I would have loved to see them play more. But, again, it’s a very, very personal decision, I think. If they’ve taken this decision, we should respect that,” he concluded.

–IANS

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