‘Ben Foakes has a man crush on Dhruv Jurel’: Ben Stokes doffs his hat for India keeper after his Ranchi heroics

There's no greater satisfaction than rising in the eyes of your opposition counterpart. Dhruv Jurel, India's young wicketkeeper-batter has managed to do just that. He impressed England keeper Ben Foakes so much that their captain Ben Stokes said the former has developed a "man crush" on Jurel. The reaction from Foakes comes a day after the legendary Adam Gilchrist said he had not seen a quality keeper like the England stumper.

"Both innings he's played very well. His keeping was something to watch — I think Ben Foakes has a little man crush on him there," Stokes said after India won the fourth Test in Ranchi to win the five-match series 3-1. Jurel was declared Player of the Match for all-round performance.

Dhruv Jurel made his Test debut in the previous match in Rajkot, where India steamrolled England by 434 runs, their biggest test victory by runs. The 23-year-old has honed his six-hitting skills in the Indian Premier League and he smashed three of them in his maiden test knock of 46.

His keeping was impressive too and commentators gushed how Jurel ran in from behind the stumps to collect Mohammed Siraj's full-blooded throw on the bounce before breaking stumps while collapsing to run out England opener Ben Duckett.

Jurel furnished further proof of his maturity in the fourth test in Ranchi where India clinched the series with a match to spare on Monday.

Replying to England's first innings 353, India were 177-7 but Jurel's stellar 90 steered them to 307 denying their rivals a bigger and potentially decisive lead.

Jurel fell short of a hundred but the way he batted with the tailenders and paced his knock particularly stood out.

With India slipping to 120-5 chasing a modest 192 on a spiteful track on Monday, Jurel combined with Shubman Gill in a defensive masterclass to put India 3-1 up in the five-match series.

"Dhruv Jurel is some player, India have found a gem," former Australia player Tom Moody wrote on X.

Batting great Sachin Tendulkar praised Jurel's footwork, while former West Indies player Ian Bishop said emergence of such players augured well for test cricket.

"Around the cricketing landscape, we are witnessing some really talented young players popping up. Future of the game is in good hands," Bishop wrote on X.

Jurel came into the side after the Indian team management decided to relieve KL Rahul from his keeping duties and not pick Ishan Kishan. The youngster from Agra broke into the XI after KS Bharat could not grab his opportunities in the first two matches of the series.