Ranchi (Jharkhand) [India], February 25 (ANI): Following a match-saving knock of 90 that brought India back in the fourth Test against England, young wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel said that he does not rue missing out on his maiden century because he is desperate to lift the trophy for his team in his debut international series.
Playing his only second Test, Jurel displayed immense maturity and grit, scoring 90 in 149 balls with six fours and four sixes and forming a 76-run partnership with Kuldeep Yadav that lifted India from a troublesome 177/7 in reply to England’s first innings total of 353 runs. India eventually made 307 runs and though they trailed by 46 runs, it was manageable enough as India eventually bowled out England for a low score.
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.
Jurel fell short of a maiden Test ton in his second Test, but the wicketkeeper 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 do not rue missing out on my hundred at all because it is my debut Test series. In truth, I am desperate to lift this trophy with my hands, because playing Test cricket was always a big dream of mine,” said Jurel as quoted by ICC.
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 could not score square of the wicket. It is better to score off a straight face (of the bat),” said Jurel.
“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,” he added.
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 has been set a target of 192 runs to win. The hosts ended their day at 40/0, with skipper Rohit Sharma (24*) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (16*) unbeaten.
In their second innings, England was bundled out for just 145 runs, with Zak Crawley (60 in 91 balls, with seven fours) and Jonny Bairstow (30 in 42 balls, with three fours) offering some fight. Spinners took all the 10 wickets for India, with Ravichandran Ashwin (5/51) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/22) leading the bowlers. England led by 191 runs and set India a target of 192 runs to take the series win by 3-1.
Earlier, India was bundled out for 307 in their first innings in reply to England’s first innings total of 353. Despite Yashasvi Jaiswal (73 in 117 balls, with eight fours and a six) firing once again, India was left struggling at 219/7.
It was wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel (90 in 149 balls, with six fours and four sixes) who joined forces with Kuldeep (28 in 131 balls) to stitch a 76-run stand for the eighth wicket and India managed to score above 300 runs. Spinner Shoaib Bashir troubled Indian batters and took a five-wicket haul (5/119). Tom Hartley (3/68) and James Anderson (2/48) were also great with the ball.
England chose to bat first and put up 353 runs in their first innings, driven by a comeback century by their premier batter Joe Root (122* in 274 balls, 10 fours), a half-century from Ollie Robinson (58 in 96 balls, with nine fours and a six) and Ben Foakes (47 in 126 balls, with four boundaries and a six). Ravindra Jadeja (4/67) and Akash Deep (3/83) were the top bowlers for India. (ANI)
