Ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle, the Indian team management faced selection conundrum for a middle-order spot between the incumbent Dhruv Jurel and the returning Sarfaraz Khan.
Jurel, who had scores of 19, 2, 0 and 13 under his belt leading into this fixture, got the nod and he justified the faith of the management by scoring 51 off 68 balls on Day 2 before falling to Prabath Jayasuriya.
Addressing the media after the close of play, Jurel clarified that he did not feel any pressure despite his lack of runs coming into the game, and he looked at every chance as an opportunity to play for India.
“Not at all. Because, to be honest, I am very grateful that I have the opportunity to represent India. Whenever I go in, I think this is an opportunity to do something for India. So, there is no pressure. That’s the only privilege that I play for,” Jurel told reporters.
Reflecting on his mindset while going out to bat, Jurel stated that his goal was to play for the team and not chase milestones.
“Whenever I go in, I just think about what team we are going to be playing and what situation I am going to be in. Whenever I speak to the captain or head coach, they always tell me what to do and what the situation is, so I play accordingly. There is no personal milestone that I look for before batting. I just go there and try to contribute for the team, whatever the team needs,” he said.
The 25-year-old also shed light on India’s plan on a rain-marred day, admitting that the aim was to score as many runs as possible without being reckless.
“You can say that the plan was to make as many runs as possible. The plan was not that from ball one we are going bonkers. The plan was that we can make as many runs as possible by hitting on a sensible wicket. I, Rishabh bhai and whoever is batting down there can do that,” he added.
With nine sessions remaining in the Test match, India will need to bowl Sri Lanka out twice on a surface that is turning but not viciously. Jurel acknowledged that visiting bowlers will have their task cut out for them to wrap Sri Lanka’s batting lineup twice.
“I think we will have to put in a lot of long spells, like their bowlers are, and we will have to be consistent. There is no rocket science. We need to put balls in great areas, that’s all. We have to keep it simple, and we have to play with determination. If we want to win the match, we need to take those 20 wickets,” the wicketkeeper-batter said.
