He didn't do much with the bat in Rajasthan Royals (RR)' first game of the IPL 2026 season, against Chennai Super Kings, but against Gujarat Titans on Saturday in Ahmedabad, Dhruv Jurel turned on the style, scoring 75 in 42 balls to headline his team's batting effort. RR still needed their bowlers, Ravi Bishnoi in particular, to get them the win, but Jurel stood out too, Ambati Rayudu calling him "a proper talent" and Aaron Finch praising him for planning his innings smartly.

RR had already had a strong start, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi adding 70 for the first wicket in just 38 balls. Jaiswal, after scoring 36 in 20 balls in that stand, slowed down a bit once Jurel joined him, contributing 19 in 16 balls to their partnership, but Jurel settled in fast and dominated straightaway as they put on 56 in 37 balls.

"He assessed the conditions, he allowed Jaiswal to sort of continue the partnership, and then, once he got in, he took over. Great knock," Finch said on ESPNcricinfo's TimeOut show of Jurel's innings, which included five fours and five sixes.

Rayudu had earlier expressed his satisfaction at Jurel being moved up to No. 3 at RR this season, ahead of the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and captain Riyan Parag.

"I think he is quite under-rated," Rayudu said to nods of agreement from Finch. "He has been an exceptional talent in Indian cricket for two or three years now, and he's not talked about much. And here he is, playing against good quality fast bowling, and he's been so comfortable. The kind of shots he has played [are] so good on the eye. He's a proper talent."

Against GT, who lost by just six runs in a close finish, Jurel also appeared to make a couple of key contributions in the field, one that changed the course of the game and another that completed it.

Ravi Bishnoi, the Player of the Match for his four-wicket haul, had three left-hand batters among his victims. And Jurel had a role to play there. Noting the longer boundary to one side of the ground, Bishnoi bowled googlies to the left-hand batters, daring them to go over, and both B Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar fell to the trap. "That was my tactic, which I had discussed with the team and with Dhruv," Bishnoi said afterwards.

And then the really big one: getting Jofra Archer to bowl the 19th over of the chase and Tushar Deshpande to bowl the final one.

"Riyan changed his mind, Archer told the broadcaster after the game. "He [Deshpande] was going to bowl the 19th and I was going to bowl the last. Everything that could have gone right in the field went right and I am proud of the boys."

It turns out that Parag's mind was changed by Jurel.

"I was actually going to switch up the order," Parag said. "So, credit to Dhruv Jurel for that. He asked me to go Jofra on the 19th and the plan was because it was a three-ball difference - it was 15 off 12 - and I just wanted to take a chance. Go as fast as possible and as aggressive as possible."