Dhruv Jurel’s salute: Why Indian player’s salute after reaching his maiden Test fifty was significant

Dhruv Jurel’s “salute” gesture after reaching his maiden Test fifty on Day 3 against England has gone viral. The 23-year-old scored a fighting 90 to take India to 307 runs and cut down England’s first-innings lead to 46 runs in the fourth Test.

After getting to his fifty from 96 balls, the the wicketkeeper-batsman quickly saluted the crowd. Thereafter, he changed gears, taking the English spin duo of Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley to cleaners.

Dropped on 59 by Ollie Robinson, Jurel smacked Bashir for back-to-back four and six and raced to 90 from 149 balls before left-arm spinner Hartley denied him a well-deserved century by cleaning him up with a quicker delivery.

India’s Dhruv Jurel in action. (Reuters)

On the eve of his Test debut in Rajkot has expressed his gratitude to his father Nem Singh Jurel, a retired Havaldar from the Indian Army, wanted his son to crack the National Defence Academy (NDA) exam and serve the country. Jurel Sr, a Kargil war veteran himself, wanted Dhruv to carry forward the legacy but he was too enamoured by cricket to follow in his father’s footsteps.

“If I get the Indian cap, I would like to dedicate this moment to my father. Because he’s my hero. Whenever I just fail to understand something, I just talk to him, and he always guides me,” Jurel had said on BCCI.tv.

Jurel found an able ally in Kuldeep Yadav who made 28 off 131 balls, in an innings of utmost grit and determination as the duo put together 76 valuable runs in the eighth wicket stand that brought the deficit under 100.

Following up his dogged 46 in his debut Test in Rajkot, Jurel produced a career-best 90, showing that he can soak pressure with utmost ease as India’s long search for a wicketkeeper-batter seemed to have ended.

A feeling like no other! 👏😍

Dhruv Jurel raises his bat for 50 for the 1st time 💪 in #TeamIndia whites 🙌#INDvENG #BazBowled #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/nfi4xR4ETc

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) February 25, 2024

The knock also came in Ranchi, the home of his childhood idol MS Dhoni. Sunil Gavaskar has compared Dhruv Jurel’s “presence of mind” to former India captain MS Dhoni.

“Watching the presence of mind of Dhruv Jurel makes me think he’s the next MS Dhoni in the making,” Gavaskar said while doing the commentary.

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