Dhruv Jurel continued his good form with the bat against England and kept India in the contest by frustrating the visitors with his maiden half-century in Ranchi.
Jurel came in when India were in trouble at 177 for 7 and lost Sarfaraz Khan and R Ashwin early. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 73 runs, but no other batsman could fare well on the Ranchi pitch as Shoaib Bashir took four wickets on the second day.
Jurel joined Kuldeep Yadav in the middle and both batsmen showed great resilience and ensured India ended the day at 219 for 7. Jurel started the third day with 30 runs off 58 balls and made a solid start.
In the 81st over, Jurel hit his first boundary with a beautiful straight drive off Ollie Robinson, before the wicketkeeper and Kuldeep took the scoreboard forward. The duo took India past the 250-run mark and also ensured that they were able to keep the demons quiet on the track.
Apart from an appealing half-up catch on the leg side off Anderson, Jurel did not appear to be troubled while batting. The partnership between Jurel and Kuldeep was finally broken when the spinner was clean bowled by Anderson.
Jurel’s innings will ensure that India reduces the deficit to below 100. The wicketkeeper provided the same resistance that he had shown in Rajkot when India were in a similar situation in the third Test. After this Jurel made a no-nonsense partnership and scored 46 runs. He did not come to bat in the second innings.
This IND vs ENG Test series is well-planned, with both teams competing for the WTC final spot
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