Dhruv Jurel puts India's success over personal glory
India wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel discussed his fighting 90 that helped India back into the contest against England in Ranchi.
Arriving at 161/5 in the final session of Day 2, Jurel soon saw his side slip to 177/7 with England’s total of 353 still far away from reach. However, the wicket-keeper batter applied himself on a slow wicket with variable bounce and crafted two crucial stands with the lower-order batters. He added 76 runs along with Kuldeep Yadav for the eighth wicket, and 40 runs for the ninth wicket with Akash Deep.
By the time he was dismissed in the 104th over, India’s deficit was a mere 46 runs. A brilliant follow-up from India's spinners in the third innings ensured that England were bowled out for 145, and the hosts needed 192 to win the Test.
Dhruv Jurel fell short of a century, but his solid innings of 90 led India's fightback, reducing the deficit to 46 runs 🙌#WTC25 | #INDvENG 📝: https://t.co/fB1LxN8E9c pic.twitter.com/gnXEU178Ul
— ICC (@ICC) February 25, 2024
Jurel fell short of a maiden Test ton in his second Test, but the wicket-keeper felt no regret over missing out on the landmark. Rather his focus remained on winning his first-ever Test series,
“To tell the truth, I don’t rue missing out on my hundred at all because it’s my debut Test series," Jurel said. "In truth, I’m desperate to lift this trophy with my hands, because playing Test cricket was always a big dream of mine.”
Discussing his innings, Jurel added that he worked out that it was a low-bounce wicket, and varied his shot selection accordingly,
“This was a low bounce wicket, so obviously one couldn’t score square of the wicket. It is better to score off a straight face (of the bat).
“So I tried to keep myself ready for the fact that the wicket was playing low, and tried to play as straight as possible. Even my bigger shots, I tried to hit them down the ground.”
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Playing just his second Test, Jurel has kept wickets to experienced spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Kuldeep in conditions that take turn and show variable bounce. Having been lauded for his neat glovework so far, Jurel credited his success to his ability to take on challenges,
“They are all world-class bowlers. Their bowling styles is different from other bowlers, so it is slightly tough. But I like challenges, so I like to prove myself by taking on them.”
India were 40/0 at the end of the third day’s play, still 152 runs away from a win that would help them to an unassailable 3-1 series lead over England.