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The India National Cricket Team is up against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team in a two-match Test series, with the first Test being played at the Galle International Stadium in Galle. India have an advantage after the end of Day 2’s play, with the score being 460/9. After the end of play, Dhruv Jurel shared his insights on the match and his innings.
The Men in Blue are in a strong position, and they will possibly declare the innings before the start of Day 3’s play. The Men in Blue will look to bowl out the hosts as early as possible, as there are rain chances on all the days of the Test match. This is a must-win game for the side to stay in contention for the WTC.
"I wasn't under pressure"- Dhruv Jurel on playing under pressure
Dhruv Jurel, who made a quickfire fifty in the first innings, spoke about his milestone and the pressure that was built on him after he had poor performances in the traditional format. He shed light at the post-match press conference that he does not take any pressure and just wants to continue scoring runs for the side.
Jurel said, "I wasn't under pressure at all. I am grateful to represent my India. There's no unnecessary pressure. I never play for personal milestone. I play however the team needs to play like."
Dhruv Jurel on playing attacking cricket
Apart from speaking on his personal milestones and pressure, Dhruv Jurel also stated how the team wanted him to play, as he was informed to score runs quickly and according to the situation; he played an attacking innings on Day 2 and helped India to go past the score of 400 runs. Jurel also spoke about the pitch in Sri Lanka and how it changes.
Jurel said, "The plan was to score runs quickly. Play sensible cricket. The wicket changes here pretty quickly. It depends on the weather too. Whatever we get tomorrow, we will do the same. We would also have to bowl longer spells. We just need to be consistent with our line and length. We have to take 20 wickets."
India dominate with Devdutt Padikkal's century
Coming to the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. The two openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul, looked in good touch until a huge mix-up led to the wicket of Jaiswal, who was dismissed for 32 runs off 37 balls. Rahul yet again scored a fifty and stitched a 150-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who was excellent at No.3 for the first time as he scored his maiden hundred on Day 1.
Rahul was eventually dismissed for 82 runs. Gill did not have the best of starts as he was out for 16 runs, and Rishabh Pant yet again got the start and did not end up with a big score as he was back for 39 runs. Ravindra Jadeja also did not trouble much. Towards the back end of the innings, Dhruv Jurel and Manav Suthar scored quickly, as the latter scored 24 runs.
