Dhruv Jurel (AFP Photo) Dhruv Jurel marked his century on Day Two of the second Test with a salute, before pointing to the tattoo on his biceps, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ — former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s tribute to India’s soldiers and farmers during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. “My grandfather was a farmer and my father was a soldier.

Those are my roots and I don’t want to forget them. That salute was for them,” Jurel said after his sparkling ton.

The Uttar Pradesh wicketkeeper-batter, whose Instagram bio reads ‘Mamba Mentality’ in reference to Kobe Bryant’s philosophy, has strengthened his claim to the No. 6 Test spot despite competition from Sarfaraz Khan.

Before the Sri Lanka series, Jurel had gone eight innings without a 50-plus score, with questions being raised over his game against spin. 5.

“Jurel will serve Indian cricket for a long time. Before the Colombo Test, Cheteshwar Pujara had also urged India to persist with Jurel at No.

“I don’t think Jurel should be excluded. He batted brilliantly in the first innings of the first Test.

India should stick with him,” Pujara said. “We all know what Pant has done for India in Australia and England.

Whenever he is batting with me, I ask him what I should do in a situation,” Jurel said, dedicating his hundred to his parents. “I can’t play like Pant.

My plan is to identify which bowler to attack and which spell to play out. Since both of us are wicketkeepers and middle-order batters, I always ask him for advice,” he said.

“Till 99, I was getting runs, but then Asitha started bowling good lengths and Sri Lanka fielded well. When I punched it over the bowler’s head, I thought there was a gap.

’” he said. “Siraj celebrates more than me.

The good thing was his defence was solid.”