Harbhajan Singh questions India’s batting order after loss in 3rd T20I against England, says Dhruv Jurel should have batted higher

Former Indian batter Harbhajan Singh questioned India’s batting order after they suffered a 26-run loss in the third T20I against England. The Turbanator said Dhruv Jurel should have batted higher in the order after the right-hander came out to bat at number eight.

Jurel was dismissed after scoring only two runs off four balls but the game was almost done and dusted when he joined forces with Hardik Pandya. Pandya, on the other hand, scored 40 runs off 35 balls and Harbhajan reckons the all-rounder could have added the finishing touches if he had batted below Dhruv Jurel.

India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and thus they could not get over the line in the run-chase of 172.

Harbhajan Singh said on his YouTube Channel, “If Jurel had come out earlier, the batting could’ve been prolonged. Pandya’s natural game is playing good shots, so he could’ve stayed low and had Jurel batted above then I think it would’ve been brilliant. However, Pandya has scored (40) runs. He also bowled well and picked up two wickets.”

“There were a lot of experiments in the batting order. It’s not needed. I can understand that you’ve players in this format who can score runs at any given order but there should be consistency. Because of the left-right combination, Dhruv Jurel was left too far behind. He could’ve gone higher,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tilak Varma scored an unbeaten knock of 72 runs off just 55 balls in the second T20I. Harbhajan noted that barring Varma’s knock, India’s batting hasn’t been up to the mark in the last two games.

The former off-spinner concluded, “If you look at the previous game [second T20I], the batters had disappointed us. It’s Tilak who stayed there so the total was chased down. I think the batters could’ve done way better.” 

The fourth T20I between India and England will take place at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Friday.