Tamil Nadu keeper-batter N Jagadeesan had an excellent outing in the recent Vijay Hazare Trophy where he broke the world record for the highest List-A individual score by hitting 277 runs and in all finishing with a record 830 runs with 5 centuries to his name averaging 138.33.
He was one of the players released by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the IPL 2023 auction where he was bagged by Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for INR 90 lakhs. Jagadeesan said that he is looking forward to playing for Kolkata Knight Riders and is happy to be part of the squad of the two-time IPL Champions.
Jagadeesan was asked about his move to KKR and said he was looking forward to playing for them.
"More than the money, I am happy to be a part of the team that has selected me. I am looking forward to play for KKR," said Jagadeesan to Rediff.
Speaking to Rediff in an interview, Jagadeesan opened up about the possibility of going back to his former franchise Chennai Super Kings who had bought him for the first time in the IPL 2018 auction and again in the IPL 2022 auction.
However, in all, he got to play only 7 matches in all with five of those coming in IPL 2020 and he has 73 runs to his name thus far.
When asked if he is intent on returning to the franchise sometime in the future, Jagadeesan said that is a question that should be directed towards the franchise.
"The question should be directed to CSK. I am not looking forward to it. I am working on my game and trying to improve on it," said Jagadeesan.
He talked about tips and advice he got from MS Dhoni and said: "He gave me lots of advice when I was in CSK. I used to go to him with my doubts, he has always been there. He would give me technical tips about wicket-keeping and batting. He also explained technical aspects of the game."
When MS Dhoni was asked about the franchise’s reluctance to play youngsters more when they endured one of their worst seasons ever in IPL 2020, the mercurial batter-keeper’s quip that “youngsters lack the spark” seemed to include Jagadeesan in that list.
Jagadeesan despite playing five matches that season had only batted twice.
Talking about the lack of opportunities in CSK, Jagadeesan told Indian Express: “It is definitely very hard. There were times I felt really low. To be honest, I have even thought of packing the bags and going home. The only thing that kept me motivated was to keep working so that you get a game. When I was not playing, I thought this is the time you can mentally push yourself, you can’t let your mind drift away. When you are down, work harder. Last IPL season and the previous one in Dubai, I told myself that ‘it is ok not to play any matches, but make sure you work the most at the gym, at a net session…give full effort in the nets’ and leave the rest to others.”
“Last year when I went in, I knew I’m not going to get any matches. If the team does really badly, then I may get a chance to play. So, it is hard when you do that, because you want to grow as a player and not get stagnant and be thrown away like how they released me. It was definitely hard. But it was self-motivating,” he added.
Jagadeesan is expected to be a starter for the two-time IPL Champions and keep wickets for them.
(Rediff/Indian Express inputs)
