• Source:PTI
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India vs West Indies 1st Test: Wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel on Friday dedicated his maiden Test hundred against the West Indies to the Indian Army, saying he has always had "respect for what they do on the battlefield".

Jurel struck a neat 125 on the second day of the opening Test against West Indies, helping India reach a dominant 448 for five at stumps after senior colleagues KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja also helped themselves to hundreds.

Besides his excellent display with the bat, the 24-year-old Jurel's celebration, after reaching his hundred as well as the half-century, also caught everyone's attention. The army salute was a tribute to the Indian army and his father, who is a Kargil war veteran.

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"The salute (celebration) after reaching my fifty was for my father, but for the hundred, it was something that I had in my mind for a very long time because I have been so close to the Indian Army, I've seen my father since my childhood," Jurel said.

"What we do on the ground and what they do on the battlefield is very difficult, and you cannot compare that. I will always have their respect, and whatever I do in the future will be for them.

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"I would like to dedicate this to them, the (Indian Army), for what they do. I have seen them closely how it is like and I remain very fascinated by those things. I also used to keep asking my father. I will dedicate it to those who deserve," he said further.

Jurel made it to the playing XI as Rishabh Pant missed out on the selection for the two-match series due to a foot injury. The right-handed batter came out to bat at the no.5 position after Shubman Gill's dismissal. Jurel first added 30 runs with Rahul for the fourth wicket before the latter was dismissed for 100 runs.

He then came up with a magnificent effort, stitching a 206-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja. He was dismissed for 125 runs, which he scored in 210 balls on the back of 15 fours and three sixes, before getting dismissed by Khary Pierre.


India vs West Indies Playing XIs, 1st Test:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

West Indies: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, John Campbell, Alick Athanaze, Brandon King, Shai Hope (wk), Roston Chase (c), Justin Greaves, Jomel Warrican, Khary Pierre, Johann Layne, Jayden Seales