In the circumstances, Tamil Nadu keeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan is doing a commendable job to keep his motivation up by performing at a high level to stay in contention for the India cap.

On the basis of his back-to-back strong showing in domestic cricket, the opening batter earned a call up for the fifth Test match in the last series in England when Pant was ruled out due to injury. His maiden India call-up was a reward for his prolific run over the last two Ranji Trophy seasons. In the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, he made 816 runs at 74.18. He followed that with 674 runs at 56.16 in 2024-25.

Another strong domestic season could take Jagadeesan a step closer to his dream of an India cap. He couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the new season than scoring a 197 for South Zone in the Duleep Trophy semi-final match against North Zone.

Unlucky to miss a deserving double hundred after being run-out just three runs short, his 352-ball marathon effort with 16 fours and two sixes, helped South Zone amass 536 in their first innings at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground, Bengaluru.

The big hundred has come at the right time and will help the TN player stay in the reckoning for the Test squad but the cricketer doesn’t want to add extra pressure on himself.

“If I’m going to think about that (Test selection), that’s just added pressure to me because I’m here to just enjoy the sport and make sure that I enjoy each and every match that I get to play. I think I need to be grateful for the opportunity that I’m getting over here because there’s a billion more people who want to play Duleep Trophy, play Ranji Trophy and be part of the Indian team. So, it’s not just about your own performances, but it is also about how the team combination is and all the other stuff,” said Jagadeesan in a media interaction at the end of the second day’s play.

His coach in Coimbatore, AG Guruswamy (Guru sir), said Jagadeesan worked tirelessly in their nets (at the Sri Ramakrishna Cricket Trust Academy) to prepare for the tough inter-zone game.

“Before going for the Duleep Trophy for more than 15 days, he batted a minimum of two hours, followed by his wicket-keeping drills with his father, CJ Narayan (who played cricket for Tata Electric in Mumbai) hitting a lot of catches at him.” said Guruswamy.

Adaptability is the key to the opening batsman’s success and it came to the fore during his 197.

“He told me yesterday, the wicket was seaming so he didn’t attempt a single drive against the fast bowlers, looked for singles and twos, he played the waiting game,” added the coach.

Given the intense competition for the wicket-keeper’s spot, so, how does he keep the motivation level up?

“He is a professional cricketer and wants to compete (with the best). Selection is not in his hands, it is a process. As long as he plays, I have told him to keep performing.”