Until Friday, N. Jagadeesan was having a lacklustre domestic season with Tamil Nadu. He played only two matches and batted lower down the order in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. And he accumulated a meagre 137 at an average of 19.57 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, which is in stark contrast to his terrific 2022 season when he finished as the top run-getter with 830 runs at an average of 138.33!
In the first Ranji Trophy match versus Gujarat, he had to bat at No. 7 and 8, and he didn’t get to bat at all in the second match versus Tripura.
He sounded relieved with his effort (155 batting, 254b, 16x4, 3x6) as an opener versus Railways on the first day of the third-round match. “I’m really happy that I opened the innings! Because, in the first game, I batted at number No. 7 and 8 - this was something I was doing a couple of years ago. But after that, last year, they made it clear that I’m gonna open the innings. So, I was excited to bat a lot more balls, because once you go down (the order), you don’t get to play a lot of balls; especially when there’s a bowler (batting with him), you try to attack all the time.
“So, this time, when they told me that I’m gonna open the innings, I was really happy. Thanks to (skipper) Sai (Kishore) for making me open. I’m just happy that Sai had the faith in me to make me open.”
Despite a good white-ball season last year, Jagadeesan hasn’t seemingly been an integral part of both the white-ball and red-ball setup for Tamil Nadu. Speaking about dealing with the insecurity of his status in the team, he said: “It’s definitely a big mental battle, to be honest. Because things are not the same as last year. The coach is different, everybody is different. People have different opinions and can be a bit judgmental at times. But I think it was very clear in my head that I shouldn’t take anything personally. And that it was up to me and no one else. Because two tournaments (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy) have just gone by. And it was just about going out and expressing myself and not worrying about getting dropped or not scoring runs. Might as well get dropped by showing intent.
“After last year, since the first match of this season, I don’t know for what reason there has been an axe over my head. But again, there’s nothing more to lose than to worry about things that are uncontrollable and going out and being defensive, playing tight. That’s not my game as well. If somebody wants to axe you, might as well go out and throw your heart (play your heart out).
“I think the way I play the game, it has to be the same, no matter what. I’m not thinking about my basics or what shots I need to play, because since I started playing Ranji Trophy there has been a pattern as to how I’ve played. I think the most important thing is to trust in myself, trust in the abilities where I’m a shotmaker. So, if I get out playing a shot, then I’ll be happy. There’s no point playing defence and getting out.”
The 28-year-old wicketkeeper-batter didn’t feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 player auction list. Asked if it was unexpected, he said: “Not really. It was pretty clear. They (Tamil Nadu) didn’t make me start in the T20 tournament (Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy). So, I was actually looking forward to it. And, I also made up my mind saying that even if I don’t get picked, there’s nobody in the world who is going to make me stop playing cricket. I just started playing the game because I love this sport, and it doesn’t matter which level you play at. I’m going to play cricket, no matter what.”
Comments
SHARE