Ambati Rayudu believes Dhruv Jurel deserves more attention, while Aaron Finch praised the Rajasthan Royals batter for having \u201cthe complete game\u201d after an eye-catching knock helped RR seal a win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL 2026 fixture on Friday night. Jurel, who is still relatively new to international cricket with nine Tests and four T20Is to his name, has often felt like a support option\u2014behind Rishabh Pant in Tests and among the various choices in the shorter format. But in the latest innings, he made a strong case that he is ready for bigger stages.<\/p>\n
The knock took Jurel\u2019s tally to 176 runs across four outings, with his batting coming from No. 3\u2014his role this season. When he walked in, Yashasvi Jaiswal had already departed and RR were reeling at 21 for 1 after two overs in a chase of 202. Jurel held his nerve all the way to the end, outlasting the pressure of a high target and an early wobble. At the start of the campaign, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi had drawn most of the spotlight, and that attention has only intensified lately\u2014yet Jurel quickly emerged as the steadying presence RR needed in the middle.<\/p>\n
Rayudu, speaking on ESPNcricinfo\u2019s TimeOut show, highlighted both Jurel\u2019s craft and his mindset. \u201cHe has shown a lot of class in terms of skill as well as his temperament. He really stood out,\u201d Rayudu said. He added that Jurel looks increasingly mature as a batter and suggested the next step is to raise his impact across all formats for India. \u201cHe looks to be a very, very mature batsman now. It\u2019s time that he steps up in terms of all the formats of the game, hopefully for India,\u201d Rayudu remarked. Rayudu also argued that Jurel is flying under the radar despite his talent. \u201cThe world needs to talk about him a little more than what they generally do. He\u2019s flying under the radar right now. In Indian cricket, I don\u2019t see many people being more talented than him in terms of being a complete batsman. So he\u2019s an amazing talent and I don\u2019t think he should be [overlooked]. He should be given his due.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finch, after watching the innings firsthand, echoed the \u201ccomplete game\u201d assessment. \u201cHis technique, his temperament, his ability to sum up the situation, pace and spin\u2014he\u2019s got the complete game,\u201d Finch said about Jurel. He also pointed to how effortlessly Jurel looked at the crease, stressing that the knock never felt like a batter settling in slowly. \u201cHow easy he made batting look when he first walked to the crease was something else. And it\u2019s easy to just fall into the trap of saying, you know what, \u2018youngster, you just keep going, I\u2019ll get one [and give you the strike]\u2019. He came out and just hit the ball in the middle of the bat from ball one. He was brilliant.\u201d Finch further noted that Jurel\u2019s composure allowed the momentum to continue, making it simpler for Sooryavanshi to keep pushing forward. \u201cAnd was a big reason why Vaibhav was able to continue to go, because he had the partner who maintained the momentum and then he was able to just keep pushing the button,\u201d Finch added.<\/p>\n
Jurel himself, however, played down the hype. Batting alongside Sooryavanshi\u2014currently the Orange Cap holder and one of the defining storylines of this IPL season\u2014cannot be easy, yet Jurel described how the partnership can ease the pressure. \u201cWhen I bat at No. 3, he makes my batting look easy,\u201d Jurel said at the press conference after the match. \u201cWhen you go in and Vaibhav is smashing every ball, you tend to think nothing is happening on the wicket.\u201d He then contrasted the calm on the surface with the reality of the challenge underneath. \u201cAnd inside, like, cricket is not easy [like Sooryavanshi makes it seem].\u201d Jurel recalled the situation after the powerplay began to shape up. \u201cAnd [after] five overs, we were like 65-70 [73] runs. And that sixth over, Abhinandan [Singh] bowled to me, and I was just telling myself, \u2018I have to cash in, I have to cash in, I have to cash in\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
He cashed in immediately, striking a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 0, 6 and 4 to turn the momentum into a decisive surge. That 24-run over helped RR end the powerplay on 97 for 1, setting the chase up for a successful finish.<\/p>\n
Jurel explained that when a partner is batting with confidence, it creates a platform\u2014but it also brings its own pressure. \u201cWhen you go in, he\u2019s hitting the ball so well. And then there is pressure too. That he is playing so well, I have to do something too. Again, it\u2019s also easy because you feel that if he is playing so well, so can I,\u201d he said. He added that the key is finding the ball early and letting timing take over. \u201cAll you need is the first boundary. To feel the ball in the middle of the bat. And then it flows.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the new batting position appearing to suit him, Jurel\u2019s role also reflects RR\u2019s current top-order shape\u2014slotting into the order ahead of Shimron Hetmyer and captain Riyan Parag, and following the high-energy Sooryavanshi-Yashasvi Jaiswal partnership.<\/p>\n
Asked about the importance of where he bats, Jurel\u2019s message was simple: winning comes first, regardless of the spot. \u201cAt the end of the day, you just need to win the match. Irrespective of what number you are batting at,\u201d he said. He noted that last year he was often asked to bat at six or five, while this season he\u2019s working at No. 3. \u201cManagement has shown some faith in me. So for me, batting number is just a number. My character is such that even if you ask me to bat at eight or nine, I will take it happily. I know that I have to hit the winning six or four. I have always been like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jurel also described the match context when his highest T20 score was on the line. \u201cIt was my highest score [in T20s]. When Vaibhav got out\u2026 he made the match very easy. Six-and-a-half or seven [6.34] runs were required [per over] when he got out. So my job was to just get it done.\u201d He added that he and his partners\u2014Riyan and Ravindra Jadeja\u2014talked through the finishing plan. \u201cI was speaking to Riyan and [Ravindra] Jadeja that run hard, just two, three, and one odd ball will come and we\u2019ll get a boundary, so we\u2019re good to go. Just try and finish it in 18-19 overs, and that\u2019s exactly what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
With this victory, RR reached a perfect start of four wins in four games. They will now travel for their next three matches, with a brief period away from their base in Guwahati\u2014their second home\u2014before returning to Jaipur, their proper home ground. With Sooryavanshi, Jaiswal and Jurel producing the kind of batting that changes games, RR will be looking to keep that momentum going as the season moves forward.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ambati Rayudu believes Dhruv Jurel deserves more attention, while Aaron Finch praised the Rajasthan Royals batter for having \u201cthe complete game\u201d after an eye-catching knock…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Finch Praises Dhruv Jurel as RR Beat RCB in IPL 2026","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Aaron Finch lauds Dhruv Jurel\u2019s complete-game knock as Rajasthan Royals beat RCB in IPL 2026, with Ambati Rayudu urging more spotlight.","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ipl"],"yoast_head":"\n