Dhruv Jurel doesn’t want to forget his roots and that mentality kind of reflects in his game too.
The keeper-batter, who is playing the ongoing Colombo Test against Sri Lanka as a specialist batsman, celebrated his hundred with a salute while displaying a tattoo on his biceps which read “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan”.
“My grandfather was a farmer, and my father was a soldier. So those are my roots, and I don’t want to forget them. So that salute should go to my father and grandfather,” he said at the media conference after the day’s play.
The urge to stay connected to his roots perhaps also helps him not to yield to temptations while batting with someone like Rishabh Pant. While Pant goes about his batsmanship with a flourish, Jurel prefers to stick to his pragmatic style.
On Monday, Jurel and Pant shared a 112-run partnership. Asked how he checked himself when Pant was going for his shots at the other end, Jurel said: “As you can see, Test cricket has different ways of playing, and it makes the
game beautiful. When you play with Pant, it’s a very terrific experience. I can’t play like him, the way he has been playing since childhood.
“My game plan is to see which bowler I should take down, which spell I should play… and I always ask Pant because he is a wicketkeeper, I am a wicketkeeper, and we play in the middle order, so it’s a very good experience.”
Jurel kept wickets instead of Pant in the three overs that India bowled before the close of play on Monday. “He got a hit on his right shoulder, and we are closely monitoring him. His shoulder was a little bad. I think he will be fit tomorrow (Tuesday),” Jurel said.