3 reasons why India must play both Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant in IND vs SA 2025 1st Test

Team India will look to continue their impressive form in the ongoing 2025-27 World Test Championship (WTC) cycle in the upcoming two-match home Test series against South Africa. The series opener will be played in the iconic Eden Gardens at Kolkata, starting Friday, November 14.

The hosts will welcome ace wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant back into the side after he missed their last three Test outings with injury. Dhruv Jurel ensured India did not miss Pant's services in the most recent home series against the West Indies, with a brilliant century in the opening game and a fluent 44 in the second Test.

It leaves the Indian management in a dilemma on how to fit Jurel and Pant in the same lineup, considering their identical roles as wicketkeepers. The former could likely miss out on the playing XI with Pant's return for the first Test against the Proteas.

Yet, there are three key reasons why India must go leftfield and play both Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel in the opening Test against South Africa.

#1 One's form and the other's pedigree

There is a strong case with different reasons for Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant to be automatic choices in the Indian Test playing XI at the moment. The latter has arguably been India's best red-ball commodity, even excluding his work as a wicketkeeper, across conditions.

Pant boasts incredible Test numbers with 3,427 runs at an average of 44.50, including eight centuries, in 47 outings. Furthermore, the southpaw has only grown in stature after the recent England tour, where he averaged almost 70.

Beyond the raw numbers, Pant causes fear in the opposition ranks, thanks to his combination of consistency and dominance, evidenced by a strike rate of almost 75 in Tests.

Coming to Jurel, the right-hander has been a near carbon copy of Pant on impact in his brief Test career. The 24-year-old has been in inimitable red-ball form, starting with the West Indian series, where he averaged almost 90 in the two matches.

Jurel has taken his batting up a notch in the ongoing India A-South Africa A unofficial Test, scoring twin centuries in the match. On both occasions, the youngster bailed his side out of troubling situations with incredible defiance and character.

Thus, Pant's overall pedigree and recent form, along with Jurel's purple patch in red-ball cricket, must force India to play both their wicketkeepers in the XI for the series opener against South Africa.

#2 Presence of both wicketkeepers optimizes India's batting lineup

If picked on form and overall numbers, the Indian batting lineup will be at its best if both Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant are part of the playing 11. The two openers and the No. 4 are all but untouchable with Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, and Shubman Gill.

While one of Pant or Jurel will fill the No. 5 spot in the batting order, the other warrants selection at No. 3 or 6, assuming India's five bowlers and bowling all-rounders pick themselves from No. 7 to 11. In the recent West Indies series, India played Sai Sudharsan at one-drop with pace-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy occupying the No. 6 position.

However, the latter hardly bowled in the series, meaning the better red-ball batter could easily be the more optimum choice at the position, which Pant and Jurel almost certainly are at this stage.

The other option includes Jurel potentially replacing Sai at No.3, despite the latter scoring an 87 in the first innings of India's most recent second Test against the West Indies. Yet, the left-hander still averages only 30.33 in Tests after five matches and has failed to make an impression in all four innings of the ongoing series against South Africa-A.

Hence, the most efficient and in-form Indian top six must include Pant and Jurel, with one Sai Sudharsan or Nitish Reddy missing out.

#3 Best middle-order bets at defiance and dominance

In Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, India might have their two best double-gear batters against spin on home conditions. The former averages almost 56 in 13 Tests at home at a strike rate of 89.83, while the latter averages an even higher 73 at a strike rate of over 56 in five home Tests.

Numbers aside, the two glovemen possess the rare ability to spend time at the crease and manipulate the spinners even on rank turners or counterattack them at will. In a series likely to be dominated by spin, with WTC points at a premium, having both Jurel and Pant in the top six could help India push for a result or bail the side out of trouble, based on the situation.

The versatility and the uncanny balance between attack and defense, especially against spin, make playing both wicketkeepers an irresistible option in the first South African Test.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran