“It was for my father” - Dhruv Jurel explains salute celebration after reaching half-century in Ranchi Test

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel explained that his salute celebration after reaching his half-century on Day 3 of the Ranchi Test against England on Sunday, February 25 was for his father Nem Chand, a Kargil war veteran.

Jurel, playing in only his second Test, top-scored for India with 90 off 149 in the hosts’ first innings. He stitched key partnerships with lower-order batters Kuldeep Yadav (28) and Akash Deep (9) to lead India’s fightback after they were 177/7 in response to England’s 353. India eventually finished with 307, restricting England’s first-innings lead to 46.

Fans were curious about Jurel’s salute celebration after reaching his fifty in Ranchi. Opening up about the same, the 23-year-old was quoted as saying by PTI:

'It was for my father. Yesterday [Saturday] I spoke to him. My father indirectly told me 'ek salute to dikha de (show me the salute once)'. He was a Kargil war veteran so my celebration was for him.”

Speaking at the press conference after Day 3, Jurel also shared his thoughts on his crucial 76-run partnership with Kuldeep Yadav for the eighth wicket.

"We both come from UP, we have good understanding, played a lot of domestic cricket together, we kept talking with each other and it helped in our partnership,” he said.

Asked if he had any specific plan while batting with tail-enders, Jurel replied:

"There was no specific plan, but it is important to show confidence and faith. I had to tell them that you can bat. That is what we planned and it worked out. Both (Akash Deep and Siraj) are decent batters, they bat in IPL as well. I told them the same and it was necessary. They did well."

After Kuldeep’s dismissal, Jurel added 40 runs for the ninth wicket to Akash Deep to further whittle down England’s lead.

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“I believe in visualization and manifestation” - Jurel

Intriguingly, the youngster also shed light on his preparations for a series and revealed that he believes in the visualization and manifestation process apart from hard work. He said that he did the same before facing the likes of James Anderson and Mark Wood in the ongoing series.

"Hard work is there, but I believe in visualization and manifestation. Whatever match or series, one or two weeks prior I start preparation looking at the bowling line-up, who will bowl and how will I play them. I play out the scenarios and it helps,” Jurel explained.

"I visualised that whoever is the bowler, be it Anderson, Mark Wood, Hartley, whatever they bowl, I see their videos where they bowl and where are my zones and how can I hit them,” he elaborated.

After India posted 307 in the first innings, Ravichandran Ashwin (5/51) and Kuldeep (4/22) combined to bowl out England for 145 in their second innings. Chasing 192, India went to stumps on Day 3 at 40/0.