Dhruv Jurel should be targeted with spin.
Dhruv Jurel has had issues with spin in IPL. He has usually been a good spin player in Tests, but struggles massively in white-ball cricket. KKR have two quality spinners – Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy – to exploit it.
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Dhruv Jurel has an average of 28 and a strike rate of 129.23 against slow bowlers in IPL since 2025. He takes around 6.50 deliveries for every boundary and has been dismissed every 21.66 balls. Additionally, he plays around 36.15% dot balls and 29.23% false shots.
Jurel’s Achilles heel has been leg-spin, which has resulted in four of his 6 spin dismissals, and he averages just 19 against this bowling type. Around 36.92% of his shots have been false, and his strike rate languishes at 116.92. The mystery bowlers have also troubled him at times with wrist-spin variations.
Since 2025, googlies have resulted in three wickets, and leg spins have dismissed Dhruv Jurel twice. Against googlies, he has averaged 10.67, striking at 139.13. On the leg-spin variation, he averages 19.50 and possesses a strike rate of 114.71.
On all other deliveries, Jurel averages a whopping 97 and strikes at 132.87 against spin. So, he still manages finger spin at times. However, KKR have Varun, who has a range of variations, and Narine, who, while not a wrist-spinner, understands how to bowl those mystery balls.
Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy have dismissed Dhruv Jurel once each in three and eight balls, respectively. Fortunately for KKR, Varun has been slowly regaining his form and has performed well since his return from injury. Additionally, googlies have fetched him 11 wickets at 18.36 runs apiece and an economy rate of 8.13 since IPL 2025.
Meanwhile, Sunil Narine has been more effective against LHBs, but has also troubled RHBs at times. His off-breaks have been a go-to delivery and can help him apply pressure against Jurel. His lengths are tailor-made to counter the Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter.
Dhruv Jurel has been dismissed all six times on length balls, averaging just 21.50 and striking at 115.18 since 2025. Narine has hit this length a whopping 96.94% of the time in this period. He has fetched 14 wickets at an average of 30.71 here.
His lengths have always been immaculate and arduous to hit. For Jurel, the challenge will be steeper, and the Knight Riders will exploit it straight away. They will likely employ one or both spinners as soon as the batter comes to the strike.
Clearly, both Narine and Varun have the upper hand against Jurel, whose issues against spin are too obvious. RR can look to delay his entry by shifting him to No.5 and promoting Shimron Hetmyer to No.3. Hetmyer didn’t play the last game, but he is expected to return now and will replace Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
Hetmyer found ample success at No.3 for the West Indies, including a top T20 World Cup 2026. He has 371 runs at an average of 53 and a strike rate of 188.32 in nine innings, with three fifties, at No.3 this year. Against spin, his strike rate has been an impressive 214.39, and the southpaw hits a boundary every 3.38 deliveries in 2026.
At this moment, Hetmyer is a better spin player than Jurel in white-ball cricket, and if he bats at No.3, Rajasthan Royals can use Dhruv Jurel more against pace. KKR have a vulnerable pace attack, with several non-performing fast bowlers. Jurel can exploit it in the second half of the innings once the top four negate the spin threat.
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