Jurel in the Crown: Journey of Kargil war veteran's son Dhruv Jurel

In the year 2014 a small teenager stood in front of Noidas most famous cricket coach Phool Chands office with no parent accompanying him He was Dhruv JurelBefore I could ask anything the boy said Sir my name is Dhruv Jurel and please take me in your academy he requested the coach who saw a quiet confidence in the teenager recalledOn Thursday when Jurel received his maiden test cap coach Phool Chand remembered every moment of that day Memories came flooding back and he became emotionalAlso Read Sarfaraz Khan fulfils fathers dream of donning the Indian jersey in TestsFor a teacher can there be a bigger day than seeing his student excel He is the first among my students who will play Test cricket and second after pacer Shivam Mavi to play international cricket Phool Chand who runs his academy in Sector 71 Noida told PTIBack to that day and he recollected some more things that struck him thenI didnt see any parent accompanying him I thought may be he is a local boy from Noida but then he said Sir I have come all alone from Agra and the friend who had promised to arrange my accommodation at his house isnt picking up the callThe first instinct for Phool Chand was to call his father exArmyman Nem Chand who was a retired Havaldar with the armed forces and fought the Kargil war in 1999 Later he took voluntary retirement from serviceI wanted to know if the kid had run away from home to play cricket and I asked him to give his fathers number When his father picked up he confirmed that he wanted to come but it was his grandfathers tervi shraddh and the kid told his dad dont worry I will take a train from Agra to DelhiSeeing a 13yearold travel alone I knew this boy is special said Phool ChandPhool Chand first arranged the stay for Jurel in a hostel where residential trainees stayed Later he began with Jurels cricket journeyIn my academy if you have merit it wont matter if you are a rickshaw pullers son or a ministers son you will be given every opportunity to make the grade Dhruv was very hardworking from an early age and also had talentSo it was not difficult for him to clear each level with his performances the coach addedFor Dhruv Jurel who debuted for India in the third test match against England it was his mother who pawned her gold jewellery to buy him his first cricket kitIn Phool Chands academy any talented kid with meagre resources have never had to worry about a good bat or quality bowling spikesIf I know that a boy can make the grade I provide him with best equipments from my pocket God has been kind that I have been able to produce multiple India India U19 and first class cricketersIn the case of Jurel what helped him develop a sound temperament which everyone noticed in two seasons of IPL for Rajasthan Royals is the number of matches and tournaments that he played around Delhi NCRFrom 14 only I made Dhruv play hundreds of matches in local tournaments around Delhi and NCR and more he played better he got I remember there was a tournament called Vaibhav Sharma Memorial and I had got a club for Dhruv but since he was young they were playing him lower down the orderI went to the owner of the team and requested to give him one chance to bat up the order and he kept my word Jurel made 86 off 38 balls to win the final for his clubHe has performed at all levels from U19 state to national team followed by Ranji Trophy IPL India A and now the senior teamThe transition has been gradual and the coach is confident of his success at the highest levelI had messaged him early in the morning that Is din ko yaadgar banana make this day memorable and he said Main apna best dunga sir I will give my best sirAfter Taj Mahal and petha Agra has got another Jewel in JurelWith PTI Inputs