CHENNAI: Having made a breezy 68-ball 51 that helped India finish rain-affected Day 2 with 460/9 on board at Galle, Dhruv Jurel expressed his gratitude towards head coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Shubman Gill for having his back.
The keeper-batter from Uttar Pradesh has been given a longer rope as specialist batter by the captain and coach since South Africa series last year. And despite the lack of big scores, he was persisted with over Sarfaraz Khan who made a late entry into the squad for the ongoing Sri Lanka tour.
Jurel, however, said he felt no pressure. "There was, honestly, no pressure. I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to represent India. That's the only privilege that I play for," Jurel said in the post-day press conference.
"So whenever I speak to the captain or head coach, they always tell me what to do, what the situation is. So, tell me to play accordingly. There is no personal milestone that I look for before batting. I just go there and do what the team needs," he said.
Though there is still a long way to go in the Test match for both Sri Lanka and India, the 25-year-old would have let out a sigh of relief having added a fifty next to his name as a specialist batter. Jurel felt that the India A experience came in handy in getting used to the conditions. "We came here 10 days before. We practised in Colombo and before that played for India A, and we had 4-5 sessions. It's all about batting on these kinds of surfaces as much as I can. It improves my batting, knows the environment, and knows the situation. So it's really helpful," he noted.
It remains to be seen whether India declare overnight or continue to bat on into Day 3 despite having just one wicket in hand.