Dhruv Jurel was retained by Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a huge price of INR 14 Crore. The wicketkeeper-batter had a huge pressure of the price tag on his shoulders. However, his performance was very up and down in the season, as he could score only 333 runs in the 14 games he played, with a highest score of 70.
The impact of his mixed season was visible on RR’s overall season, as they failed to qualify for the playoffs and struggled on many occasions during the season. Going into the next season, considering the price he comes in for, the management might consider dropping him and then buying him back for much cheaper in the mini auction, or they can also look to find a replacement player who can also play in the middle order like him.
If that’s the case, however unlikely it might be, there would be quite a few teams in the league who can benefit from Jurel’s service. Let’s have a look at three of them:
While the Super Giants are full of overseas batting firepower, they would want to strengthen their Indian batting core going into the next season. Currently, they only have Rishabh Pant and Ayush Badoni in the middle order as the Indian batting options, and that’s where Jurel can slot himself in.
Jurel offers the flexibility to bat him anywhere in the batting order, and he can prove to be a great option at number five in the batting order, with Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and Pant batting above him, and Badoni coming below. That would make for one of the strongest top six in the competition, at least on paper.
CSK had one of their worst-ever IPL seasons last year, and one of the key reasons behind that was the lack of batting firepower in their side. With the likes of Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda and Vijay Shankar proving to be a bad investment in the middle order, the Chennai-based franchise can let go of some of the anchor batters in their lineup, and Jurel offers himself as a lucrative replacement option.
He can bat anywhere in the middle-overs, and bats above a strike rate of 150, which CSK desperately need. His keeping is fantastic as well, hence, in case Dhoni decides to call it a day, he can slot in his place directly, and CSK won’t have to bear the headache of finding a replacement for the iconic player.
SRH can certainly do with some firepower down the middle order at six or seven, as Aniket Verma alone can’t be trusted to do the job at every instance. Meanwhile, SRH might also look unsure about playing Ishan Kishan in every game if his form remains inconsistent through the season.
In that situation, Jurel can be a great option for them, allowing their bombastic batters at the top of the order, along with Heinrich Klaasen in the middle, to do their thing. He can also prove to be a really great finisher with his clean hitting.
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