Ambati Rayudu lauded Dhruv Jurel‘s “extraordinary potential” after the wicketkeeper-batter’s 53 not out off 38 balls helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) seal a chase of 221 against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Jaipur.

Jurel is having his most productive IPL season. He has scored 420 runs, and five fifties, in 13 innings at a strike rate of 150.00. Only Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (579) has more runs for RR this year.

“I think he has at least four or five levels to unlock in his batting,” Rayudu said on ESPNcricinfo Time Out. “He is one guy I feel who has extraordinary potential. He is so clean, so neat. He has such a good technique. He just needs to free up his bat swing a little bit. I’m sure he will work with coaches during the off-season or whenever he gets time and becomes a much better ball striker than he is right now.

“His temperament is top-class. His play against pace, he is so comfortable. There are so many good things – he steps out, he plays the spin well, reads the length well, he runs well between the wickets, I think he is a complete package that just needs to be properly unlocked and probably trained.”

Rayudu’s co-panellist Saba Karim praised Jurel’s match-awareness while chasing but said he needed to show more intent when batting first. Jurel’s strike rate in the chase this season has been 157.37 but it drops to 144.30 when batting first.

“I feel that there are two phases in his batting,” Karim said. “One is when he is batting first and the other when he is batting second. When he bats second, it seems he is in complete control of the situation, match awareness, the ability to take the game down right till the end, wants to finish the game, which is a special quality.

“But when he bats first – and I love to get those numbers – his strike rate from zero to ten balls is slightly on the lower side. That’s when I want him to free himself, to back his talent, to back his skill, and play the big shots in the first ten deliveries and to kickstart his innings. I think that will help him boost his confidence and also accelerate his strike rate.”