Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel has shared his views on the cricketers from whom he has drawn inspiration. The youngster will be in action when India take on Australia in the first Test of the 2024-25 BorderGavaskar Trophy, starting on Friday, November 22, in Perth as well.

Ahead of the series, in the ‘On the Mic’ segment of Star Sports, he said: “Virender Sehwag—my family used to watch him in the beginning—AB de Villiers because of his innovation, the calmness of MS Dhoni, the aggression of Virat Kohli, and the ease of Rohit Sharma. There are so many cricketers from whom I’ve drawn inspiration. To be honest, I never really thought about it. That’s what life is—full of surprises. From childhood, my biggest dream was to play Test cricket for India. This is a huge achievement, especially the goal to play in SENA countries.”

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“I remember when matches were held in Australia, New Zealand, and England, we had to set alarms because the time zone was different. I was always filled with excitement, and now that I’m here, I’m hopeful for the chance to play in the matches. I am still very excited, though there are some butterflies in my stomach, but I am looking forward to it,” he continued.

He also acknowledged that the 2024-25 BGT will be a tough challenge, especially after Team India’s recent whitewash by New Zealand
in a three-match Test series at home as well.

“I can’t deny that this is a difficult tour, especially after how the last series went. We are very excited and pumped up, and we are here to give it our all. We are looking forward to every challenge. We know there will be challenges, but we are ready to overcome them,” Jurel said in the same interaction. “I had a rough idea that the pitches here would be very different from those in India. I knew the pitches would be bouncy, so I planned my shots accordingly and worked on improving my game. It turned out to be a good approach.”