Indian cricket team wicket-keeper Dhruv Jurel pulled off an MS Dhoni-like masterplan to dismiss Ollie Pope during Day 1 of the fifth Test match against England in Dharamsala on Thursday. Dhoni is well known for his impeccable reading of the game and Jurel showed a similar talent as he perfectly predicted how Kuldeep Yadav can dismiss Pope. In the 26th over of the innings, Jurel shouted from behind the stumps that he believed that Pope would step out of his crease to counter the spin. “Yeh badhega aage (he will step out),” he told Kuldeep. It was exactly what happened as Kuldeep tricked Pope with a flighted delivery and Jurel made no mistake in completing the stumping.

Kuldeep bamboozled England batters in the first session of Day 1 of the 5th Test in Dharamsala on Thursday. Kuldeep didn’t have to wait for a long time to get the hosts their first breakthrough after coming on.

England looked to have won the first session before Kuldeep Yadav struck twice to leave the visitors at 100 for two at lunch. Of the two wickets that the chinaman bowler picked, it was his delivery to Ollie Pope that impressed everyone, leaving the right-handed batter dumbstruck.

On expected lines, the skillful duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj made the ball talk but Ben Duckett (27 off 58) and Crawley (61 batting off 71) were able to see the first 14 overs of fast bowling after being beaten multiple times.

Crawley, who has been England’s stand-out batter in this series, was meticulous with his shot selection and played some delightful cover drives off the pacers on the way to his half-century.

Siraj ended up bowling eight overs in the morning session and Bumrah seven with both conceding 24 runs.

R Ashwin, playing his 100th Test, was the first change before Kuldeep came to bowl in the 18th over.

Despite being hit for two fours off his first five balls, Kuldeep was not afraid to flight the ball and was rewarded as Duckett’s mistimed hit was pouched by Shubman Gill, who took a spectacular catch running backward from cover. Like Duckett, Crawley too was beaten by the pacers in the first hour of play but he picked the right balls to flaunt his cover drives. He also survived a close DRS call before reaching his fourth half-century of the series with a boundary down the ground.

In the next over, Crawley stepped out to smash Ashwin for a six over long on. Kuldeep’s second strike came at the stroke of lunch as Ollie Pope (11) stepped out only to be beaten by the Indian spinner’s googly and to get stumped. Here’s the video:

Kuldeep sends Pope packing with a Jaffa

India get their second wicket at the stroke of Lunch #IDFCFirstBankTestSeries #BazBowled #INDvENG #JioCinemaSports pic.twitter.com/gQWM3XYEEg

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) March 7, 2024

Kuldeep has emerged as a vastly improved bowler for India in Tests and has cemented his spot in the team alongside legends like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

With PTI inputs