Kolkata, Nov 12 (IANS) India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate on Wednesday confirmed that Dhruv Jurel will feature in the playing eleven alongside Rishabh Pant for the first Test against South Africa, starting at Eden Gardens on Friday.

After hitting his maiden Test hundred in the 2-0 series win over the West Indies, Jurel hit scores of 132 not out and 127 not out for India A in the second red-ball game against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru last week.

There were doubters on Jurel retaining his place in the playing eleven despite Pant’s return from a fractured right foot, but his good batting form has resulted in him holding on to his spot. The only time Jurel and Pant played together in a playing eleven was in the 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth.

“I don’t think you can leave him out for this Test is the short answer. But obviously, you can only pick 11 as well. So someone else will have to miss out. I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of the combination. Given the way Dhruv’s gone in the last six months, scoring two hundreds in Bangalore last week, he’s certain to play this week.

“Again, like what I mentioned about Washi, Axar, Jadu, for me, you’ve actually got three batters there. So it does give us a lot of flexibility. But I would be very surprised if you don’t see Dhruv and Rishabh playing in this Test this week,” ten Doeschate told reporters in a press conference.

He also said with Jurel a certainty, seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy may not play in the series opener against the Proteas, the current World Test Championship winners.

“I also said strategy comes first. The primary thing is to set out a strategy to win the game, and then if you can accommodate giving guys a chance for development, that comes in. Our position certainly hasn’t changed on Nitish.

“He didn’t get much game time in Australia. But I would say, given the importance of the series, and given the conditions we think we’re going to face, he might miss out in this Test this week,” he added.

–IANS

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