With Rishabh Pant ruled out of the fifth Test against England and Ishan Kishan too nursing an injury, selectors have handed a maiden national call-up to Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper N Jagadeesan. The 29-year-old was informed by the selectors on Thursday afternoon to join the squad in England, and Jagadeesan now awaits the required visa to join the team at the earliest.
When Pant was ruled out, Ishan was seen as the possible replacement, as he was even part of the County fixtures recently. But Ishan informed the selectors that he has an ankle injury and won’t be able to recover in time or gain full match fitness.
While KS Bharat was seen as an alternate option, it is understood that the selectors were not keen on going back to him after the Andhra wicketkeeper failed to grab his chances during the home Test series against England.
As a result, Jagadeesan, who is next in line, has been added to the squad. The 29-year-old has been part of the India A set up in recent times. In 52 first-class matches, he has scored 10 centuries and 14 fifties at an average of 47.50 for a tally of 3373 runs. Primarily an opener, Jagadeesan has been among the consistent performers for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy and has a triple century to his name.
Last season, with Pant still recovering, Jagadeesan was made part of the fringes of the Indian set-up with chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar flying to Chennai to watch him in a Ranji fixture against Karnataka. Apart from being an aggressive batsman, Jagadeesan is impressive behind the stumps as well.
Earlier in the day, BCCI confirmed in a statement that Pant wouldn’t keep wickets in Manchester. “Rishabh Pant, who sustained an injury to his right foot on Day 1 of the Manchester Test, will not be performing wicket-keeping duties for the remainder of the match. Dhruv Jurel will assume the role of wicket-keeper. Despite his injury, Rishabh Pant has joined the team on Day 2 and will be available to bat as per team requirements,” the Board said. Pant did come out to bat to a standing ovation at Old Trafford after the fall of Shardul Thakur’s wicket late in the first session.
At Lord’s, Pant had suffered a hand injury and Dhruv Jurel kept wickets. It is likely that Jurel will be the first-choice wicketkeeper to replace Pant in the final Test that will be played at The Oval in London, having been part of the squad since the Tour games.
