Narayan Jagadeesan in red-ball cricket (Source:@tweetsbycb/X.com)
Rishabh Pant is still not fit to play Test cricket for India, and as a result, Dhruv Jurel will be India's first-choice wicketkeeper for the West Indies Tests. The second wicketkeeper spot has gone to Narayan Jagadeesan, who was also named as Pant's replacement during the Oval Test against England earlier this year.
Famous wickekeepers falling off the radar
The England series was his first call-up to the Indian Test side, and he has now been trusted again over the likes of Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson and other wicketkeepers in the Indian domestic circuit. Firstly, Ishan Kishan has fallen off the radar since he decided to take a break midway through the South Africa tour of 2023/24. He has not played a lot of first-class cricket since, and thus, despite a fifty in his second and last Test, he has not been able to return to the national side.
Indian chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, also emphasised that Ishan Kishan has been unfit in recent times and that he needs to prove himself with more runs in the domestic circuit before getting a Test comeback. Sanju Samson, too, has not played red-ball cricket regularly for Kerala and was not even selected in the South Zone squad for Duleep Trophy.
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Narayan Jagadeesan trusted after long domestic toil
Selectors also had the options of Akshay Wadkar, Aryan Juyal and Harvik Desai but it is Narayan Jagadeesan who has been preferred for his consistency over a long period of time. The cricketer has been playing first-class cricket for nine years and has an average of over 50, which is not common among Indian wicketkeepers in the domestic circuit currently.
There are very few like Dhruv Jurel and Aryan Juyal who have an average of 50 or above, and out of them, one is in the Indian team. Aryan Juyal, on the other hand, has shown promise and can be the one for the future, but Jagadeesan has been doing well for a long time and has finally been rewarded.
Narayan Jagadeesan in first-class cricket
| Criterion | Data |
| Matches | 54 |
| Runs | 3686 |
| Average | 50.49 |
| 100s/50s | 11/16 |
Also, Narayan Jagadeesan has been brilliant in Ranji Trophy in the last couple of seasons. In the 2023/24 season, he scored 816 runs at an average of 74.18, while in the previous Ranji edition, the wicketkeeper batter hit 674 runs at an average of 56.16. Thus, he has not only been one of the consistent wicketkeeper batters but also one of the leading red-ball batters in the country.
Also, Narayan Jagadeesan is an opening batter, unlike many other wicketkeepers in the country. Thus, selecting him would serve two purposes, and the need to select an extra opener can be avoided. He can also fit in at number 3, a position that is now up for grabs in the Indian Test team. Also, Jagadeesan has shown a penchant for scoring big runs and recently smashed 197 while playing for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy. He also scored fifty against Australia A, and thus the selectors probably feel that he is a more accomplished and experienced batter than other wicketkeeper options in the Indian domestic circuit.
Thus, Narayan Jagadeesan brings a lot of positive things to the table and is a proper batter who keeps wickets in the longest format of the game. Therefore, the selectors are likely to back him in Test cricket in the absence of Rishabh Pant.
