Dhruv Jurel

- Dhruv Jurel was signed by Rajasthan Royals (RR) ahead of IPL 2022 at his base price of INR 20 lakh. But he did not get a game that season.

- Jurel made his IPL debut in 2023, and impressed with his power-hitting in the death overs. That season, he scored 152 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 172.72.

- In 2024, too, Jurel batted 11 times for RR, and got 195 runs, with two half-centuries. But his strike rate had dipped to 138.29. Later that year, Jurel made his T20I debut on the tour of Zimbabwe.

- RR retained him for INR 14 crore ahead of the mega auction for IPL 2025. With 333 runs at a strike rate of 156.33, Jurel was RR's third-highest run-getter that season. Ahead of IPL 2026, RR retained him again for INR 14 crore.

Son of a Kargil war veteran, Dhruv Jurel too wanted to join the army before falling in love with cricket. His father was against him playing the sport, so Jurel kept it a secret from him. One day, his father was reading the newspaper and told him, "There is a cricketer by the same name as you, and he has scored these many runs." Scared, Jurel did not say anything.

Jurel was born in a lower-middle-class family. His mother had to sell her gold chain to buy him his first cricket kit but things soon took a positive turn. In 2019, Jurel led India to the Under-19 Asia Cup title in Sri Lanka, and was named the vice-captain for the 2020 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa.

He had hardly played any domestic cricket when Rajasthan Royals bought him for IPL 2022 but did not get a chance that season. He made his debut in IPL 2023, when coming in as Impact Player he scored 32 not out off 15 balls against Punjab Kings. Even though Royals lost the match, Jurel had cemented his position.

In only his sixth first-class match, Jurel scored 249 against Nagaland while opening the innings for Uttar Pradesh in Ranji Trophy 2022-23. He got his maiden India call-up when England visited India in 2024 for a five-match Test series. Making his debut in the third Test in Rajkot, he scored a crucial 46. In the next Test, in Ranchi, he scored 90 and 39 not out, and was named the Player of the Match.