A big knock from a young star has put India in a commanding position in the second Test against Sri Lanka.
Dhruv Jurel, who is playing as a specialist batter for India in this ongoing two-match Test series, is in top form. The 25-year-old cricketer from Agra had scored a half-century in the first innings of the first Test in Galle and now he has gone one step further. He scored a brilliant unbeaten century in the first innings of the second Test which is being played in Colombo. On Monday, August 25, he made 115 runs for Shubman Gill-led team, which helped India declare their first innings at a huge total of 503 for 9.
This match in Colombo is Dhruv Jurel’s 11th Test for India and his innings has earned him a lot of praise from fans, cricket experts and followers of the game.
After the second day’s play ended, Dhruv Jurel spoke about the guidance he has been getting from the team management. In a video shared by the BCCI on Tuesday, just before the start of the third day’s play, he revealed what head coach Gautam Gambhir and Test captain Shubman Gill have been telling him. He said both of them constantly advise him to stay at the crease for as long as possible, to focus on building partnerships, to understand the situation of the match and to know his scoring areas while keeping risks low in his batting.
Here is the video:
https://x.com/BCCI/status/2092077000651338177
Click to watch this video directly on X
Dhruv Jurel’s century on Monday also put him in the record books. He has now become only the second batter batting at number seven or lower to score a Test century for India on Sri Lankan soil. His score of 115 also broke the record for the highest score by an Indian batter batting at number seven or lower in an away match in the World Test Championship.
Talking about his milestone, Dhruv Jurel said he does not chase personal records. He feels that centuries and milestones happen on their own when a batter spends enough time in the middle. He said his only focus on Day 2 was to keep building partnerships with whichever batter he was batting with and he felt the team batted decently overall.
Well played Dhruv Jurel!
