India wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel on Sunday dedicated his half-century against England in the Ranchi Test to his father, who served in the Indian Army and is a Kargil war veteran as well.
Jurel top-scored with a career-best score of 90 to steer India out of danger in the ongoing match after England had reduced the hosts to 177 for 7 in the first innings on Day 2.
Jurel, Kuldeep bail India out of trouble
Jurel partnered with Kuldeep Yadav to add 76 crucial runs for the 8th wicket before adding another 40 with Akash Deep and 10 with Mohammed Siraj to take India past the 300-run mark and significantly reduce the deficit after it looked like England would take a first innings lead in well in excess of 100 runs.
Jurel impressed everyone with his compact batting and judicious shot selection, while exhibiting a calm temperament, application and maturity.
Jurel shows his class
Though he missed out on a maiden Test century by 10 runs, Jurel’s knock, laced with six fours and four sixes, helped India reach 307 and concede a lead of just 46 runs.
He later spoke about his knock and dedicated it to his father Nem Singh Jurel, who wanted his son to join the Indian Army like him but Dhruv had other ideas.
"I've no regrets of missing out on a hundred. I'm happy that I could contribute to my team's cause," Jurel told Jio Cinema before opening up about his fifty-celebration which was for his father.
"My father indirectly told me yesterday “ek salute to dikha de” (shoe me the salute once). He was a Kargil war veteran so my (salute) celebration was for him," the 23-year-old added.
Dhruv Jurel shines after KS Bharat's flop shows
Jurel came into the playing XI after KS Bharat was dropped following his twin failures in the first two Tests. Jurel, who hails from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, made his debut in the Rajkot Test where he immediately impressed with 46 runs on debut before his maiden fifty in Ranchi.
After his dismissal, India took less than a couple of sessions to bowl out England for 145 and set themselves a target of 192 runs to win the match. The hosts reached 40 for no loss by stumps on Day 3 with captain Rohit Sharma (24*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (16*) at the crease.
