New Delhi, May 19 (UNI) Rajasthan Royals Head Coach Rahul Dravid has praised young batsman Dhruv Jurel for his composure under pressure and credited him for consistently performing in tough situations despite the team's close defeats this season.

"In every single match that he has come out in, he’s been chasing 13-14 runs per over — that is not easy," Dravid said after Rajasthan's latest narrow loss on Sunday. "He played really well, even though we lost a bunch of wickets in the middle overs. He brought us close to the target."

Lauding Jurel’s temperament at a difficult position in the order, Dravid said, "It’s not like he’s walked in needing 7 an over and failed. It’s always 12-13, sometimes even more. I think Jurel has done well for us at No. 5. It’s a very difficult position to bat in."

Dravid also spoke highly of the core group of young Indian batsmen in the squad, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Riyan Parag, and Sanju Samson. "We’ve seen the talent — today again, the batting from Jaiswal, Vaibhav, Jurel, even Sanju and Riyan,” he said. "We have a strong group of young Indian batsmen. They’ll only be better in a year."

He noted that players like Suryavanshi and Parag would gain further experience through domestic and international assignments. "Vaibhav will play a lot of cricket, like the India U-19 setup. Riyan Parag too. These guys will be playing tough cricket through the year. Hopefully, when they return next season, they’ll be more experienced. They’re already very talented," Dravid said.

Reflecting on the team's string of close losses, the former India coach said the side had failed to close out games despite getting into promising positions. "It’s been five games now — 10 runs, tie, 1 run, 2 runs, 10 runs again," he said. “These are one or two hits in that final phase that we just haven’t managed."

Dravid admitted RR had also fallen short with the ball and stressed that defeats couldn’t be pinned solely on the batting. "There’s no point only blaming the batsmen. With the ball too, this wasn’t a 220 pitch. It was more of a 195-200 surface, and we gave 20 extra," he said. "If we look at the stats, we’ve not taken enough wickets or controlled the runs despite good starts. That’s something we have to work on for next season."

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