Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan is set to earn his maiden Test call-up as the selectors have identified the 29-year-old as the replacement for injured Rishabh Pant. Pant, despite being diagnosed with a fractured toe, walked out to bat on the second day of the ongoing Manchester Test against England. Pant inside-edged a Chris Woakes delivery onto his right foot, leaving it swollen and bleeding, before he was taken off the field on a cabby, before being taken to the hospital.
As per a Cricbuzz report, Jagadeesan will join the Indian squad ahead of the fifth and final Test of the series at the Oval. Ishan Kishan was considered a replacement option; however, the 27-year-old was unavailable due to a foot injury. Kishan reportedly fell from a two-wheeler after a return from his stint with Nottinghamshire in the County Championship and has his left foot in a cast.
The Board of Control for India (BCCI) in a statement on Thursday confirmed that Pant will not keep wickets for the remainder of the fourth Test but will bat if the need be. And it seemed like India required his services in the first innings itself, maybe in a bid to push the score beyond 400.
Deserved call-up for Jagadeesan
Jagadeesan, who averages 47.50 in first-class after playing 52 matches, had a scintillating Rani Trophy for Ramil Nadu, finishing the 11th leading run-getter in the tournament. Jagadeesan amassed 674 runs in 13 innings, averaging 56.16, including a couple of centuries and five half-centuries.
Jagadeesan, who has played in the IPL for Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, has been on the fringe for a few years now, and the call-up is a reward for his consistency in domestic cricket.
Dhruv Jurel, the backup keeper, will keep wickets for the remainder of the fourth Test and is likely to start in the playing XI at the Oval in the series finale while India hope that Pant's injury isn't aggravated by him trying to add a few runs with a fractured toe.
