India’s new wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel shares his experience after India were 219/7 at end of day 2 in Ranchi Test

The 23-year-old wicketkeeper batter from Agra became the new batting sensation of team India. Dhruv Jurel’s heroics in Ranchi not only helped India win the Test match, but owing to his sensational performance India also won the series. This makes Dhruv Jurel an overnight sensation among all the cricketing fraternities.

Dhruv single-handedly changed the dimension of the match in the first innings. He made his debut in Ranchi. He scored 46 runs in his debut match. Dhruv was playing the second Test of his career in Ranchi, but he never looked underconfident at the crease. Dhruv made 90 in the first innings and an unbeaten 39 in the second innings. He also got the Man of the Match prize for his heroic performance.

Dhruv Jurel joined Kuldeep Yadav on Day 2

After winning the toss England skipper Ben Stokes chose to bat first. Joe Root scored an unbeaten 122 in the first innings. Because of his innings England finished their first innings with a total of 353. India did not start well in their first innings. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had scored 73 but India’s middle-order failed to impress. At one time India was 177 for 7. Then came the star of the match Dhruv Jurel. India finished at 219/7 at the end of day 2. Dhruv and Kuldeep added 76 runs for the eighth wicket. Dhruv hit six fours and four sixes, and finally, he got out at 90. Due to his exceptional performance, India ended their first innings total of 307.

India started their second innings brilliantly. Ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin took a five-fer and England all out at only 145 runs in the second innings. They set a target of 192 for India. India had a brilliant opening start; they lost their first wicket at 84 runs. India lost their next five wickets rapidly. At one time India was 120 for 5. Dhruv Jurel and Shubman Gill helped India to secure victory in Ranchi.

After the Test match, Dhruv Jurel shared his experience and said, “I was not able to sleep last night. I was just thinking how I could spend more time in the middle, add runs and help the team. The more runs I scored, the less the team would require while chasing, so that was all I was thinking even while at the wicket today. The most important thing is having faith in the tail-enders. You need to make them feel confident about their batting, stay at the crease and make them believe that this is doable.”

Rishabh Pant has been injured since last year. India was looking to find his replacement for a while. After this match-winning knock at Ranchi, India finally was able to find someone who could fill the void in the Test squad. India will play their final Test in Dharamsala on March 7. India wants to finish the series on high.