Dhruv Jurel: The 13-year-old Son of the Kargil War Veteran Who Traveled by Train by Himself from Lucknow to Achieve His Dream of Being in India

The year was 2014. A little boy in his teens stood before Noida’s most celebrated cricket coach, Phool Chand,’s office room, and no parent was going with him. “Before I may inquire anything, the boy said, ‘Sir, my title is Dhruv Jurel, and if it’s not too much trouble, take me to your academy’, he requested,” the coach, who saw a calm certainty within the young person, recalled.

On Thursday, as Jurel got to be an Indian Test cricketer, Phool Chand strikingly recalled each minute of that day. Recollections came flooding back, and he got emotional. “For a teacher, can there be a greater day than seeing his understudy exceed expectations? He is the primary among my understudies who will play Test cricket and a moment after pacer Shivam Mavi to play universal cricket,” Phool Chand, who runs his institute in Segment 71, Noida, told PTI. He went back to that day, and he recalled a few more things that struck him then.

“I didn’t see any parents going with him. I thought he may be a boy from Noida, but at that point, he said, ‘Sir, I have come all alone from Agra, and the companion who had guaranteed to organize my convenience at his house isn’t picking up the call’.” To begin with, it intuitive for Phool Chand to call his father, ex-Armyman Nem Chand, who was a resigned Havaldar with the outfitted powers and battled the Kargil war in 1999. Afterward, he took a deliberate retirement from service.

Imagined, manifested and rehearsed this day so many times ever since I first picked up the bat. My dream came true 🇮🇳

Thank you for the kind words, @dk bhaiya 🙌 pic.twitter.com/KMG9DMnqbG

— Dhruv Jurel (@dhruvjurel21) February 15, 2024

“I needed to know in case the kid had run away from domestic to play cricket, and I asked him to grant his father’s number. When his father picked him up, he affirmed that he wanted to come, but it was his grandfather’s service (shraddha), and the kid told his father, Don’t stress, I will take a train from Agra to Delhi. “Seeing a 13-year-old travel alone, I knew this boy was special,” said Phool Chand. With no place to live at first, Phool Chand orchestrated his stay in a lodging where private learners remained, and in this way, he started Jurel’s cricket journey. “In my institute, if you’ve got justification, it won’t matter if you’re a rickshaw puller’s child or a minister’s child; you’ll be given each opportunity to form the review. Dhruv was exceptionally dedicated from an early age and also had talent.

“So it was not troublesome for him to clear each level with his performances,” the coach added. It is never simple for boys coming from lower-middle-class families, and for Jurel, it was his mother who pawned her gold adornments to induce him to begin with cricket. That was some time ago when he came to Noida. In Phool Chand’s foundation, any skilled kid with small assets has never had to stress about a great bat or quality bowling spikes. “If I know that a boy can make the review, I give him the best types of gear from my stash. God has been kind enough that I have been able to deliver different India, India U19, and, to begin with, cricketers.”

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In the case of Jurel, what made a difference in his creating a sound disposition, which everybody has taken note of in the two seasons of IPL for the Rajasthan Royals, is the number of matches and competitions that he played around Delhi, NCR. “From 14 as it were, I made Dhruv play hundreds of matches in nearby competitions around Delhi and NCR, and the more he played, the way better he got. I keep in mind there was a competition called Vaibhav Sharma Dedication, and I had a club for Dhruv, but since he was young, they were playing him lower down the order. “I went to the owner of the group and asked to give him one chance to bat up the arrangement, and he kept my word. Jurel made 86 off 38 balls to win the last for his club.” He has performed at all levels, from U19 state to national group, taken after by the Ranji Trophy, IPL, India A, and presently the senior team. The move has been progressive, and the coach is sure of his victory at the highest level.  “I had messaged him early in the morning that, ‘Is commotion ko yaadgar banana’ (make this day vital), and he said, ‘Main apna best dunga, sir’ (I will deliver my best, sir).” After the Taj Mahal and Petha, Agra has another gem in Jurel.