Team India wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel recently opened up about his childhood. He recalled how he initially went to the Eklavya Stadium in Agra to join swimming classes but ended up enrolling himself in a cricket camp.
The 25-year-old revealed that he didn’t tell his family and kept playing matches by borrowing equipment. He stated that his father came to know about it when he saw his name in the newspaper.
Jurel mentioned that his father quickly realized the truth and started supporting his cricketing dream since then. The Rajasthan Royals (RR) star said during an interview on Aakash Chopra’s YouTube channel:
“My friends and I decided to join swimming classes in the summer camp at Eklavya Stadium. I saw guys playing cricket in whites. I ditched my friends, filled out the form for cricket, and came back home quietly. I did not tell my father about it. I played a match after borrowing equipment. I scored some runs in that match, and my name came in the newspaper. My father asked me who that was. He understood that I was lying. He realized that I was very passionate about it and supported me a lot after that.”
Jurel has played 12 Tests and four T20Is for India and has been a regular member of the red-ball squad in the recent past. He has been picked for the Men in Blue’s upcoming three-match ODI series against West Indies as a backup wicketkeeper.
“This is common in middle-class families” – Dhruv Jurel reveals his father wanted him to secure a government job
Dhruv Jurel also spoke about how he played a lot of gully cricket during his younger days. He remarked that his father was against him taking up the sport professionally and wanted him to try for government jobs.
He said during the same interview:
“I used to play a lot of gully cricket. I told my father that I wanted to play professionally, but he said no. He was in a government job and wanted me to do the same. This is common in middle-class families, where you want a settled life for future generations.”
Jurel’s father Neem Singh is a retired Indian Army Havaldar who fought in the Kargil War.
Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai
