Former Indian batter Sanjay Manjrekar called Dhruv Jurel one of the finds of India’s 1-0 Test series win over Sri Lanka. However, Manjrekar also wondered how the wicketkeeper-batter would fare in India’s next red-ball series in New Zealand.

The 25-year-old played as a specialist batter in the Sri Lankan series and finished as the third-leading run-scorer with 173 runs despite batting lower down the order. Jurel scored a sublime century in the second Test at Colombo and averaged an impressive 86.50 in the series.

Talking about India’s two major positives with the bat in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka, Manjrekar said on his Instagram handle:

“In Devdutt Padikkal, India have found a very good No.3. Then Dhruv Jurel, a steady influence on a team packed with Rishabh Pant and other attacking players. This is a guy who is pretty orthodox and old-fashioned and cashes in on starts, making the 40s and 50s into big hundreds. We’ll see how he goes in New Zealand and whether he bats in that position or somewhere else.”

Padikkal was India’s leading run-scorer in the series with 328 runs, including centuries in the first innings of both Tests.

In the bowling department, Manjrekar believes left-arm spinner Manav Suthar is the biggest find for India, saying:

“Manav Suthar is the perfect foil for Jadeja. Manav Suthar’s true value will be seen on pitches that aren’t obvious turners, especially pitches in Australia and South Africa, where there is more bounce. Because of his overspin, he’s the kind of bowler India have always needed,” said Manjrekar.

Suthar was the leading wicket-taker in the Sri Lanka series with 16 scalps at an excellent average of 21.06, including a 10-wicket match haul in the series opener.

“There was acceptance” – Sanjay Manjrekar on Team India’s demeanour in the drawn 2nd Test

Sanjay Manjrekar believes Team India accepted that the second Test against Sri Lanka would end in a draw during Day 5 despite being in a winning position at the start of the day. The visitors had the Lankans reeling at 229/6 entering the final day, with a second-innings deficit of only 16 runs.

However, an incredible 133* from Sonal Dinusha and resistance from the lower-order batters helped Sri Lanka pull off a miraculous draw, finishing Day 5 on 429/9.

“When the Indian players realized they were not going to win the second Test, there was acceptance. But it wasn’t one of resignation, or they didn’t give up the match. It was acceptance out of appreciation for the opposition and one guy, Sonal Dinusha,” said Manjrekar (via the aforementioned source).

India had won their eight previous Tests against Sri Lanka after enforcing the follow-on before the Colombo encounter. The drawn second Test also ended India’s six-match winning streak in the red-ball format in Sri Lanka.