Dhruv Jurel during the second day of the 3rd Test match vs England.© BCCI
Star batter Dhruv Jurel started his Test cricket career on a promising note. The right-handed batter is among the two debutants for India in the third Test against England in Rajkot. Jurel scored 46 runs off 104 balls in his maiden Test innings before losing his wicket to England leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed. While Jurel missed his half-century by a small margin, former India opener Parthiv Patel was left impressed with the way he played. The ex-India southpaw even picked the “most interesting aspect” of the debutant’s performance on Day 2 of the Rajkot Test.
“(Ravichandran) Ashwin has been playing for a long time. But, I was very impressed with the way Dhruv Jurel batted. He took his time, he looked assured, he seems to trust his defence, he is not playing with hard hands and he is allowing the ball to come to him,” Parthiv Patel said on JioCinema as quoted by India Today.
“The most impressive aspect of his batting in the first session was the way he handled Mark Wood. He showed he is capable of playing pace in different ways. At the start he was cautious, but when the fielder was not positioned behind the square, we saw the upper cut come out. When Mark Wood tried bodyline bowling, Dhruv Jurel was getting into good positions, leaving the ball well and looked in complete control,” he added.
Talking about the game, opener Ben Duckett smashed a century to lead England’s attacking reply of 207 for 2 on Friday after Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin reached 500 Test wickets in the game.
The left-handed Duckett reached his third Test hundred in 88 balls as England reached 207 for 2 to cut their deficit after they bowled out India for 445 on day two in Rajkot.
Duckett, on 133, and Joe Root, on nine, were batting at close of play. The tourists still trail India by 238 runs.
Ashwin took down Crawley after tea for his 500th Test wicket, becoming only the ninth international bowler and second Indian after Anil Kumble (619) to reach the milestone.
(With AFP Inputs)
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