Tamil Nadu cricketer Narayan Jagadeesan is living the dream – a call-up to represent India. The fact that it is in England, especially at a time when the energy is high, owing to the well-fought draw against the ‘Three Lions’ in the fourth Test in Manchester, makes it even better. Speaking to mid-day from London, he expresses, “It feels really good because it is something that I have always dreamed of, and this has always been my ultimate goal. Since childhood, every practice and training session I have done in cricket has only been for this moment – where you know you want to come and represent the country.”

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who made his first-class debut for his state in the 2016-17 season, comes at a time when India has unfortunately lost their star batsman, Rishabh Pant. Playing a resilient innings, Pant fractured his right foot after a Chris Woakes yorker, following which BCCI announced Jagadeesan as his replacement. With 3373 runs in 52 first-class matches at an average of 47.50, the Tamil Nadu cricketer has 10 centuries and 14 half-centuries to his name. While holding several records to his name, the 29-year-old has had two back-to-back impressive Ranji Trophy seasons. He scored 816 runs in the 2023-24 season at an average of 74.18 and then scored 674 runs in the 2024-25 season – becoming Tamil Nadu’s top-scorer for two consecutive seasons. It Is a notch above his List A career that has many highlights, including the record for the highest-ever individual score in the format, when he scored 277 against Arunachal Pradesh in the 2022 Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Giving due credit to his parents and sister, and coaches, and all the other people who have been helping him, including Robin Uthappa, who has been his mentor now, and Naramsimha, his batting coach in Chennai. Even as the right-handed batsman spends time with the team, he understands his role. “It is a very big opportunity for me. Replacing Rishabh Pant is a good thing, but also unfortunate because he is a superstar of the game, and I wish for his speedy recovery. At the same time, I am very excited and looking forward to being with the team and experiencing how it feels while just making sure I do every bit in the team to gain a lot more experience and give in the right energy. More importantly, I want to try to be in the present.”