3 min readAug 16, 2026 07:54 PM IST
Ahead of the first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, India had a selection puzzle to solve between the incumbent Dhruv Jurel and the returning Sarfaraz Khan for the middle-order position. The management decided to go with the former, and the right-hander, who had scores of 19, 2, 0 and 13 leading into Galle, responded by making 51 on Day 2, before he fell to Prabath Jayasuriya.
Speaking after the day’s play, Jurel said he did not feel any pressure about 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 on Sunday.
Jurel also spoke about his mindset while going out to bat, saying that his goal was to play for the team and not for personal 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 revealed what India planned to do when play resumed in the afternoon, admitting that the goal was to score as many runs as possible without being over-aggressive in their approach.
“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.
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With nine sessions left in the Test match, India will need to bowl Sri Lanka out twice on a surface that is turning but not viciously. Jurel admitted that India will have their task cut out for them to bowl Sri Lanka out 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-batsman said.
