India rookie Dhruv Jurel fell short of a well-deserved half-century against England on Day 2 of the current third Test in Rajkot on Friday. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 46 runs from 104 deliveries, including three sixes and two boundaries.
Jurel was dismissed in the 124th over of India’s first innings. Rehan Ahmed produced a flat delivery outside off, and Jurel moved deep into his crease to attempt a late cut. He failed to execute the hit, resulting in a thick edge, and Ben Foakes once again excelled from behind the stumps with a brilliant catch.
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England took the wicket and reduced India to 415-9 after lunch on Day 2.
Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin formed a 77-run partnership for the eighth wicket. In his first innings, the 23-year-old scored the third-highest Test total for an Indian wicketkeeper, after only KL Rahul (101 against South Africa) and Dilawar Hussain (59 against England).
The Madhya Pradesh batsman also became the second Indian to knock three sixes on debut, behind Hardik Pandya (against Sri Lanka in 2017).
Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel impress on debut as India cope without KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer
Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel seized the opportunity in their debut in the absence of KL Rahul (still gaining full fitness) and Shreyas Iyer (dropped after repeated failures). Earlier on Day 1, Sarfaraz hit 62 runs off 66 balls, including two sixes and nine boundaries before being run out.
Rajat Patidar, on the other hand, failed to produce on his third effort, scoring only five runs before being dismissed by Tom Hartley. During the Vizag Test, the right-handed hitter had scored 32 and nine runs in two innings.
Meanwhile, India skipper Rohit Sharma (131 off 196) and Ravindra Jadeja (112 off 225) were the hosts’ outstanding batsmen. The two put on a 204-run partnership for the fourth wicket to enable India recover from 33/3 after opting to bat first.
