Indian veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin lauded Dhruv Jurel for his fine knock in the first innings of the fourth Test match against England at Ranchi. The Indian wicket-keeper scored a fine knock of 90 runs when the hosts had their backs against the wall.
The home team found themselves tottering at 177-7 but Jurel showed great resistance at the crease. The 22-year-old youngster added 76 runs with Kuldeep Yadav, who also played a gutsy knock of 28 runs.
Jurel then added 40 crucial runs with Akash Deep for the ninth wicket. The youngster deserved to get to his maiden Test century but was dismissed by Tom Hartley.
In fact, at one stage it looked like India will concede a lead of more than 150 runs but with the help of Jurel’s knock, India was able to reduce the deficit to 46. Jurel showed great maturity in his stroke play and played according to the match situation to help India bounce back into the contest.
Meanwhile, India was able to skittle out England for a paltry score of 145 runs in the second innings, courtesy a fine spell from Kuldeep Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin. Yadav returned with fine figures of 4-22 whereas Ashwin scalped 5-51. Ashwin was full of praise for Yadav for the way he bowled on Sunday.
“I thought Kuldeep bowled brilliantly. What I loved about Kuldeep today was the way he worked on his run-up, momentum and all that sort of stuff. We all know how much revs he can put on the ball, what skill he has got. The change of pace that changes the trajectory, which he is willing to do now… I think he’s double the bowler that he is. Really happy for him. I just stole the fifer away from him. That’s how the game goes,” said Ashwin with a smile, speaking to the official broadcaster after the third day’s play.
“It was hard on him (Kuldeep) yesterday, we sent him to bat a bit too early than what he would have desired. I felt his defence was good, he showed a lot of grit and composure, kept the dressing room calm. And it was even better from Jurel I thought, for someone who was playing just his second Test match, he showed great composure, trusted his defence, had a great gameplan, didn’t go bonkers, picked the right bowlers to hit, and yeah, it gave us a great boost. We batted almost until Lunch, if we had given up even 70-80 runs, the thought when we went back to the hotel last night, we would have taken it with both hands.”
India need another 152 runs to take an impregnable lead of 3-1 in the series whereas England require 10 wickets to level the series on Monday.
