CHENNAI: Even as Rishabh Pant's injury came as a dampener for the Indian team, it meant that Tamil Nadu keeper-batter N Jagadeesan has received his maiden Test call-up for the fifth and final Test against England to be played at The Oval on Thursday.
Jagadeesan has been rewarded for his consistent performances in the last two seasons for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy, where he top-scored for his side. In the 2023/24 season, he made 816 runs at 74.18 with a high score of 321. In the 2024/25 Ranji season, he made 674 runs at 56.16. Jagadeeasan's personal coach AG Guruswamy, a highly respected figure in Tamil Nadu cricketing circles, is all the more pleased that his protege will be going to England. "Very happy that Jagadeesan has been called by the Indian team management for the last Test as a back up for injured Pant. He has been working hard all these years and in the last two years, he has done extremely well for Tamil Nadu in both white-ball and red-ball cricket. He deserves the call-up,'' said Guruswamy.
What paved the way for Jagadeesan all up was the fact that the current India team management wanted a wicketkeeper who can bat. "Maybe that his batting is a bonus and that paved the way for his call-up. But let's not forget he has also been brilliant behind the wickets. He has been constantly working on his wicket keeping skill sets and has always shown the attitude to put extra effort in practice sessions to polish his game," said Gurusamy. "Jags is mentally very strong. In the last couple of years he has also worked on the mental aspect of the game. He is calm, cool and precise in his approach to the game, thus he can handle pressure. For the last ten days he has been practicing in Coimbatore for his club games. So should he get an opportunity to play for India, I am sure he will excel and not be rusty. Plus, skill-wise, he is good. Because you see, he has been brought up on matting wickets. Backfoot play will be very good for players who play on matting wickets. He will be able to handle the bounce better,'' he added.
As far as his keeping goes, Jagadeesan has kept for the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin while being a part of Chennai Super Kings in the past. "Yes, he has kept wickets to Jadeja at CSK and to the likes of Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar for Tamil Nadu. He has also kept wickets to a lot of spinners right from the club level to first-class level so it (handling spinners) should not be a problem. He should not have a problem even against Kuldeep who is a wrist spinner," he said, before adding, "'He has improved a lot. He has worked very hard. Like gathering, he is very good because he keeps about 1000 overs every season in Ranji Trophy. And then he opens the batting so that speaks of his fitness. Jags has fast reflexes. He should just go out and play and not think 'I am playing Test cricket'. Play it as just another game and adapt according to the situation.
