India’s Dhruv Jurel scored a brilliant unbeaten 115 off 177 balls to bring up his second Test century on Day 2 of the Colombo Test against Sri Lanka.

Jurel reached his three-figure mark off 171 deliveries after surviving a brief rain interruption and a direct-hit run-out scare. He became only the second Indian cricketer after Hardik Pandya (2017) to score a Test century batting at No. 7 or lower in Sri Lanka.

Jurel, a second wicketkeeper who has batted his way into a specialist's spot, put on a crucial 112-run sixth-wicket partnership with Rishabh Pant (63) and later pushed India past 500 alongside the lower order.

The visitors declared their first innings at 503/9 and quickly reduced Sri Lanka to 8/2 before bad light brought an end to Day 2.

After the close of play, former India batting coach Vikram Rathour praised Dhruv Jurel's solid defensive technique, calm temperament, and lack of visible technical flaws in the nets.

Rathour was approaching the end of his tenure as India's batting coach when Jurel made his Test debut against England in February 2024.

"He is almost a perfectionist. He has worked really hard on his technique and it's something unique nowadays," Rathour told Cricbuzz. "You don't get too many players with a technique that solid. Because the focus is on playing more shots. Or scoring runs in different areas. When you see him bat in the nets, you sometimes wonder how will this kid get out. There are no visible weaknesses at all."

Rathour also offered sneak peek into Jurel’s intense work ethic and relentless drive to improve, noting the latter is never fully satisfied with his batting in the nets and constantly seeks extra practice, drills, and time against bowlers to fix minor flaws.

"He keeps batting in the nets. He will look great in the nets and he will come out saying that 'no, this is not right'. And you are like, 'what else do you want'? Anybody else batting the way you are batting, he'd be on top of the world. But he comes out and still thinks that something is not sitting right. He'll ask 'Can I bat a little more? Can I go to the back and hit some bowlers or get into the nets and do some drills'? He wants to improve all the time," Rathour remarked.