Cricket: Dhruv Jurel hits unbeaten 115, Rishabh Pant 63 as India, 1-0 ahead, take charge of series

The importance and ultimate reward of being your complete, authentic self was showcased at the Sinhalese Sports Club ground on the second day of the second Test as two players who do one job expressed themselves without restraint to put India in a position of strength.

The visitors declared at 503 for 9, having taken complete control of the match, on the back of Dhruv Jurel's second Test century and Rishabh Pant's 63, with the two sharing a 112-run seventh-wicket stand.

Pant's batting was best encapsulated by a falling pull off Lahiru Kumara in the 90th over. The contact with the ball was so clean that it disappeared in the gap between the Col. FC de Saram Pavilion and the Members' Enclosure and landed onto Gregory's Road. The shot was identical to the one he attempted on Sunday when he was hit on the wrist and forced to retire hurt.


This is not Pant being pig-headed. This is Pant knowing his game so well, and having the belief to execute. In the course of his two-hour and 18-minute stay at the crease, Pant wore many balls on his body. This was not because Pant's technique was lacking, but because he got into awkward positions while attempting the unorthodox shots that underpin his game.

Pant's innings ensured that Sri Lanka were constantly kept under pressure. The bowlers devised plans, but it was impossible to stick to them because Pant kept innovating. This shifted the pressure onto the fielding side, making them constantly feel that India was moving the game forward faster than the scoreboard indicated.

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While Pant was doing Pant things, Jurel was being Jurel. Batting with the correctness of a cricketer who grew up idolising the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Jurel is compact and shows the full face of the bat as often as he can. His movements at the crease are minimalist; he does not fuss or fidget and treats each ball on merit.

When Jurel is batting, he absorbs pressure because he permanently has the air of a player who is confident in his defence and is enjoying a net session in a controlled environment. Even when wickets fell around him, and Mohammed Siraj was out in the middle, and rain was imminent, Jurel showed no sign of being rushed to get to his hundred.

Jurel's batting is predicated on the belief that if he were good enough to get to the 90s, the same method would take him to three figures.

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Eventually, it was a scampered single, which could have been catastrophic if there was a direct hit, that got Jurel to three figures.

India waited a touch longer before pushing the score beyond 500 and declaring. Then came a passage of play that further hurt the home team. Sri Lanka, clearly frustrated by having to play out a short passage in fading light, and perhaps feeling that things were stacked against them as the umpires appeared to ensure that the ground staff removed the covers against their judgment, lost two wickets.

Lahiru Udara was squared up by Prasidh Krishna, and the resultant edge was brilliantly caught by Yashasvi Jaiswal, diving full length to his right, with both hands. Jaiswal clearly had no difficulty in sighting the ball. Prabhat Jayasuriya was sent out as nightwatchman and Manav Suthar stung with a ball that came in with the arm. Both Udara and Jayasuriya made their displeasure amply clear once dismissed, and Andy Pycroft, the match referee, might well have a word with them.

It was hard to shake the feeling that Sri Lanka also felt hard done by the match referee when it was announced that Jaiswal and Asitha Fernando would both face an equal fine of 25% of match fees and receive one demerit point from their fracas on the first day.

When they begin Day 3 at 8 for 2, Sri Lanka have a lot to shake off, mentally, if they want to be in the best frame of mind to give themselves a chance to get back into. If they can't do that, India will be all over them, and this Test may not go into Day 5.