Watch: Dhruv Jurel stumped Ollie Pope on the stroke of lunch on day one of the fifth Test in Dharamshala after smartly predicting that the England vice-captain would step out of his crease just the previous delivery.
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England won the toss and chose to bat first in the Dharamshala Test. India gave Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj long spells in the first hour, but they weren’t able to produce a breakthrough despite finding prodigious early swing moment.
Kuldeep Yadav came onto the attack in the 18th over of the innings and dismissed Ben Duckett on the last ball of his very first over, thanks to a stunning catch by Shubman Gill while running backwards.
Ollie Pope came out at No.3 and scratched around for 23 balls without ever looking settled. After the third ball of the 26th over, bowled by Kuldeep which Pope defended with the turn to short leg, India’s wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel shouted from behind the stumps that Pope will step out of his crease now.
“Badhega aage, badhega aage (He’ll step out, he’ll step out),” Jurel predicted, suggesting to Kuldeep to perhaps drag the length short a bit to counter Pope advancing down the wicket.
As it turned out, Jurel was spot on with his call. The very next ball, Pope came running down the pitch. Kuldeep might have spotted Pope’s movement early as he dragged back his length, and the fact that it was a googly meant the ball turned away from Pope, who was expecting it to come back in, leaving him in no man’s land.
Jurel took the bails off in a flash and threw the ball hard into the ground in celebration, pumped up after his prediction came out right.
With the wicket of Pope, England went into lunch at 100-2.
