Does comparison with legends increase the pressure on him?

More than two days after the great Sunil Gavaskar made a comparison between debutant Dhruv Jurel and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it is still making waves on social media. With good reason, the young keeper-batsman followed up his game-changing effort of 90 with another quiet partnership with Shubman Gill in the second innings to take India home and win his maiden Player of the Match in only his second Test.

If one closely follows Gavaskar’s statement when he says that ‘there will never be another Dhoni’, he adds: ”Of course, he (Jurrell) batted well, but his keeping, his keeping on the stumps, His work behind it has also been equally brilliant. Looking at his game awareness, I would like to say that he is the second MS Dhoni on the rise. I know there can never be another MSD; But you know, he has the presence of mind. MSD too, when they started, had the same thing: and Jurel has the awareness of the game, a street-smart cricketer.”

The Little Master’s words may prove prophetic, but they can certainly put pressure on the young professional cricketer who has just started his journey. It’s such a typical form of hyperbole that India’s TV pundits often resort to it to praise newcomers – possibly inspired by the occasion. Another artist who will have to live with it for some time to come is Yashasvi Jaiswal, who remained unbeaten in the series at the age of 22.