Zaheer Khan Reacts to Dhruv Jurel’s Knock in Eliminator Clash
In Wednesday’s Eliminator between the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Mullanpur, Zaheer Khan discussed the significance of Dhruv Jurel‘s quick half-century.
Following Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s incredible 97-run hit off 29 deliveries, the wicketkeeper-batter scored a half-century off 20 balls. The management of the RR club would understand the significance of both knocks, even though the renowned Zaheer Khan claimed that Sooryavanshi’s innings eclipsed Jurel’s half-century. Zaheer explained the importance of Jurel’s effort by highlighting the middle-order’s poor performance against the Sunrisers.
“It was valuable when you look at how the middle-order fared after that. But it’s definitely going to get overshadowed because of Vaibhav Suryavanshi. However, the team will know how important Jurel has been throughout the season,” Zaheer said on.
Jurel was removed as the third RR batter in the fourteenth over. The Royals lost five wickets and scored just 48 runs in the final 37 balls of the innings.
“When Burger is not there, Jofra feels the added responsibility,” Zaheer Khan said.
Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger, the seam bowling pair from Rajasthan, were praised by Zaheer Khan. The former India bowler claimed that Archer’s performance suffered during the games when Burger was benched because he tried too hard to take wickets. Together, he thinks the two are more dangerous to the opposition battrs.
“When Burger is not there, Jofra feels the added responsibility of creating breakthroughs. Then, as a bowler, you can be desperate for wickets. That, at times, hampers your line and length. You saw that in one of the games when Archer tried too much and bowled down the legs a lot,” said Zaheer (via the aforementioned source).
“RR have finally figured out of the bowling combination. The Nandre-Jofra combination worked really well for them early in the season but they moved away from that. It was probably to bring in Donovan Ferreira or Shimron Hetmyer, who is not part of the combination now. The bowling lineup now complements each other,” he added.
Ishan Kishan, Travis Head, and Abhishek Sharma—SRH‘s renowned top three—were all removed by Archer. In addition, Burger contributed a few wickets as SRH was dismissed for 196 while chasing a target of 244 runs.
