Sri Lanka perhaps went to bed on Day 1 of the Colombo Test assuming they had already seen the last of Rishabh Pant for the first innings. The India wicketkeeper-batter suffered a stinging blow to his hand and was forced to retire hurt late on Sunday. Sri Lanka bowling coach Ryan van Niekerk, under the impression that Pant was only '50-50' to resume batting, felt his pacers could maximise the first hour on Monday with a ball that was only five overs old.

But 11 balls into the morning session, Pant strode out to join Dhruv Jurel. The odds of him sitting this innings out were infinitesimal. This is, after all, the same player who came down a flight of stairs to awe and applause from the Old Trafford crowd last year. A broken foot had already ruled him out of the remainder of that Test and the next at The Oval, but India needed him to bat, and he limped his way to the middle. The blow to his hand in Colombo wasn't even in the same postcode for significance or pain.

For the rest of the morning session, the Colombo Test condensed into a singular contest: Sri Lanka vs Pant. Fields changed, bowling lines switched and the short balls kept coming. He took them all on like only he does, even copping a bouncer on the shoulder. He put plenty of them away for runs too.

It's not that Sri Lanka ignored India's other wicketkeeper-batter. They would've welcomed a wicket at either end with open arms. But Pant's expansive tendencies, which had India moving at close to four an over, demanded all the attention. His methods brought opportunities with them too, while Jurel quietly ticked away, almost unnoticed.

Jurel and Pant are a dicey pair to deal with for most bowling attacks. A Rishabh Pant innings typically comes at you with fanfare, anticipation and tease. A Dhruv Jurel innings simply sneaks up on you.

Jurel is the kind of luxury for India in Tests that has quietly turned essential: a second wicketkeeper who has batted his way into a specialist's spot. In this Colombo Test, he is one of only three Indian batters to face more than 100 deliveries. Among them, his false-shot percentage of 8.4 is bettered only by Shubman Gill's 6.2, although the Indian captain faced 69 fewer deliveries. Jurel's control percentage is marginally better than even Devdutt Padikkal's and vastly better than Pant's: 91.6 to Pant's 84.3.

In the middle of a transition, India have been blessed with control at No. 6. Jurel brings an assuredness that perhaps belongs at a higher batting spot anywhere else in the world. Even from No.6, he offers tantalising avenues. At home, it allows India to stretch their innings and bury visiting teams under a mountain of runs. In testing away conditions, it can provide, at the very least, some much-needed batting cushion.

"He is almost a perfectionist," Vikram Rathour tells Cricketlineguruji of Jurel. Rathour was in his final assignment as India's batting coach in February 2024 when Jurel made his way into the XI. His 90 on a Ranchi pitch that kept low immediately impressed the coach and told him plenty about a batter with temperament. Since then, the two have shared many evenings talking cricket at Rajasthan Royals and continue to do so.

"He has worked really hard on his technique and it's something unique nowadays," Rathour offers. "You don't get too many players with a technique that solid. Because the focus is on playing more shots. Or scoring runs in different areas. When you see him bat in the nets, you sometimes wonder how will this kid get out. There are no visible weaknesses at all."

Sri Lanka have already endured the absence of that weakness twice in the last fortnight. In Galle, he scored a brisk half-century to build on Devdutt Padikkal's excellent hundred, and in Colombo, he played his part perfectly in a duet with Pant before leading the way to his second Test century.

Sri Lanka's spinners bowled 76 deliveries in the 3-5m good-length zone to Jurel and drew blanks. He defended well and low against Keshara Nuwantha and was equally adept going back to Prabath Jayasuriya, taking just 28 runs from those deliveries. His compactness against spin was vital in a game where the average degree of turn progressively increased through the sessions. As much as 49.4% of deliveries deviated significantly, by over 4.5 degrees, off the pitch on Day 2, compared to 24.2% on Day 1. In all, Jurel faced 101 balls of spin, scoring 56 runs at a control percentage of nearly 90.

The quicks, meanwhile, sent down just seven bouncers to Jurel before abandoning the ploy. He took 15 runs from them without offering a potential chance of dismissal. Unfortunately for Sri Lanka, he was just as comfortable against other lengths too.

"He keeps batting in the nets," Rathour says, offering a peek into the making of the kind of innings he played in Colombo. "He will look great in the nets and he will come out saying that 'no, this is not right'. And you are like, 'what else do you want'? Anybody else batting the way you are batting, he'd be on top of the world. But he comes out and still thinks that something is not sitting right. He'll ask 'Can I bat a little more? Can I go to the back and hit some bowlers or get into the nets and do some drills'? He wants to improve all the time."

Jurel's opportunities with the Indian team have been shaped by returns on shadow A tours. He made himself impossible to ignore, his primary vocation be damned. He scored runs in Australia in 2024, in England in 2025, and made a vital 34 in the second innings of a memorable Test win at The Oval when Pant was nursing his injury. By the time Pant returned, in the home series against South Africa late last year, Jurel had forced India into a tactical detour. India went from Pant or Jurel to Pant and Jurel, and are far richer for it.