RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Dhruv Jurel marked his century on Day Two of the second Test with a salute, before pointing to the tattoo on his biceps, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ — former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s tribute to India’s soldiers and farmers during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Jurel is the son of Kargil War veteran Nem Singh Jurel, a retired Indian Army havaldar. “My grandfather was a farmer and my father was a soldier. Those are my roots and I don’t want to forget them. That salute was for them,” Jurel said after his sparkling ton. The Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper-batter, whose Instagram bio reads ‘Mamba Mentality’ in reference to Kobe Bryant’s philosophy, has strengthened his claim to the No. 6 Test spot despite competition from Sarfaraz Khan. Before the Sri Lanka series, Jurel had gone eight innings without a 50-plus score, with questions being raised over his game against spin. He responded with 51 in the first Test and followed it with his second Test hundred, taking his series tally to 173 runs at an average of 86.5. The Indian team management has backed Jurel as a specialist middle-order batter even when he is not required to keep wickets. “Jurel will serve Indian cricket for a long time. His form for India ‘A’ in Sri Lanka in July, where he scored 208 runs in two matches at 104, including a century, helped him,” a key decision-maker in Indian cricket told TOI. Before the Colombo Test, Cheteshwar Pujara had also urged India to persist with Jurel at No. 6. “I don’t think Jurel should be excluded. He batted brilliantly in the first innings of the first Test. India should stick with him,” Pujara said. Jurel shared a 112-run stand for the seventh wicket with Rishabh Pant and said he often turns to him for advice. “We all know what Pant has done for India in Australia and England. Whenever he is batting with me, I ask him what I should do in a situation,” Jurel said, dedicating his hundred to his parents. He added that while Pant’s attacking style is unique, he prefers to stick to his own methods. “I can’t play like Pant. My plan is to identify which bowler to attack and which spell to play out. Since both of us are wicketkeepers and middle-order batters, I always ask him for advice,” he said. Jurel reached 99 off 123 balls before taking a risky single off Asitha Fernando to complete his hundred. “Till 99, I was getting runs, but then Asitha started bowling good lengths and Sri Lanka fielded well. When I punched it over the bowler’s head, I thought there was a gap. Then I saw the fielder coming close and thought, ‘Oh, what have I done?’” he said. Jurel also thanked Mohammed Siraj, who blocked 29 balls to help him reach the milestone. “Siraj celebrates more than me. The good thing was his defence was solid.”
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