Galle [Sri Lanka], August 16 (ANI): Indian batter Dhruv Jurel expressed satisfaction with the team’s score but stressed the need to bowl in good areas on Day 3 as the Shubman Gill-led side ended Day 2 on 460/9.
Resuming from 288/2, India lost Rishabh Pant for 39 and KL Rahul for 82 before Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed for an impressive 167. Dhruv Jurel then scored an impressive 51, while Manav Suthar made 24, but Sri Lanka fought back strongly in the final session. Prabath Jayasuriya was the pick of the bowlers with 4/109, supported by debutant Keshara Nuwantha’s 3/175.
Sri Lanka claimed several late wickets, including Jurel, Suthar and Mohammed Siraj, but India still finished with a commanding total. At stumps on Day 2, Kuldeep Yadav was unbeaten on 12 and Prasidh Krishna on 1.
Speaking at the post-day press conference, Dhruv Jurel said he was pleased with India’s 450-plus total, calling it a strong score on the Galle pitch. He added that India now needs to bowl in the right areas consistently and see how the match progresses.
“I am very happy with this score. 450 odd runs are a good score on this wicket. Just that from now on, we need to bowl in good areas. Let’s see how it goes,” he said.
Jurel praised Devdutt Padikkal, saying his strong performances are no surprise given his success with India A. He expressed happiness as a fellow cricketer to see Padikkal performing well for the Indian team.
“As for Devdutt, he was with me in India A; he has already scored a lot of runs for India A here. So whenever he gets an opportunity, he scores runs. So it feels good as a fellow cricketer that he is doing great for the Indian team,” Dhruv Jurel said. (ANI)
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