Rahul Dravid's raw emotions know no limits in dressing room, lets it flow on meeting Jurel, Gill after India win series
Rahul Dravid was absolute box office after India beat England by 5 wickets in Ranchi to clinch series.
Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel held their nerves on Day 4 of the Ranchi Test to help India clinch the Test series against England. The young duo shared an unbeaten 72-run stand to take India over the line to secure a five-wicket win, their efforts clearly leaving Rahul Dravid extremely impressed. The India head coach failed to hide his emotions, letting them out as raw as they could get.
Dravid, known for his cool demeanour, couldn't keep calm, and his smile in the dressing room depicted the satisfaction of the series win after Jurel scored the winning runs. The 51-year-old was beyond excited in the dressing room and maintained his tempo in entering the field. As Jurel and Gill made their way back, Dravid gave them both tight hugs for their fighting spirit on a tricky batting surface which helped India take an unassailable 3-1 lead.
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It has not been an easy series for India as they are without their star batter Virat Kohli, who opted out due to personal reasons. The hosts lost the first Test match which put the coach and skipper under the scanners for their defensive approach. Things turned bad to worse for them when in-form KL Rahul got injured and missed out after the first Tests due to injury but skipper Rohit Sharma and head coach Dravid kept the spirits high in the dressing room by instilling confidence in young players like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, Jurel and Akash Deep.
The youngsters did not disappoint their captain or coach as they stepped up for the side in the last three Tests and helped India extend their dominant run at home in red-ball cricket.
The fourth Test belonged to Jurel, a young wicketkeeper batter from Uttar Pradesh. He was playing his second Test match but displayed great resilience in the first innings when things weren't going India's way. The 23-year-old came out to bat when India were half-down 177/5 in reply to England's 353 in the first innings. Ben Stokes and England were marching towards taking a massive lead but Jurel stood tall in the way with a 90-run knock to cut the deficit to 46 runs.
A 76-run stand between Jurel and Kuldeep Yadav for the seventh wicket gave India some much-needed hope and they banked on it to change the script and outclass England completely in the third and fourth day. Jurel also remained unbeaten on 39 in the second innings and was rightly adjudged Player of the Match.
The resurgence of Shubman Gill
Before the start of the series, Gill, the rising star of Indian cricket, was facing heat for his consistency in red-ball cricket since taking the number 3 spot. The 24-year-old crumbled under the pressure in the first three innings of the series but managed to find his mojo back in the second innings of the Vizag Test.
The talented youngster was not able to score big in the first innings of the series, but his resilience in the second innings – with scores of 104, 90 and 52 is a big boost for India who has entered the transitional phase in red-ball cricket. It's not an easy task for any side to replace Cheteshwar Pujara at number 3 in Tests but Gill's recent form is a big relief for Dravid and Rohit.
He took responsibility when India were losing wickets from one end, during which he displayed a solid defence against the English spinners who targetted the cracks on the surface to trouble him. Gill showed grit and resilience to fight out the tough phase and smashed a couple of sixes to ease off pressure when India were 20 runs away to ease off the pressure.
With the triumph, India registered their 17th consecutive Test series win at home, arguably one of the toughest reflected in Dravid's relieved smile at the end of the match.
