The Tamil Nadu cricketer scored a 141-ball 277 in the match against Arunachal Pradesh in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bengaluru earlier this week. In an exclusive interview with Mid-day, he talks about the record, his form, hopes of playing club cricket and representing India
The Tamil Nadu cricketer scored a 141-ball 277 in the match against Arunachal Pradesh in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bengaluru earlier this week. Photo Courtesy: BCCI
Tamil Nadu cricketer Narayan Jagadeesan is on a hot streak and rightly so especially after breaking the world record for most number of consecutive centuries (5) by a cricketer in List A cricket. Apart from cricket fans, the feat was also shared by Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, who is the state cricket team’s regular captain, as well as Jay Shah, who is currently the secretary of the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI). Interestingly, that wasn’t the only record he set on November 21 while playing the Vijay Hazare Trophy match in Bengaluru against Arunachal Pradesh. While he scored a 141-ball 277, Tamil Nadu went on to win the match by 435 runs. Even then, Jagadeesan is as grounded as can be, as he speaks to us over a telephone call from Bengaluru.
By the end of the very same match, he had also gone on to create several other records. With 277, he has the highest individual List A score; joint fastest 200 in List A cricket; most individual sixes in an innings in Vijay Hazare Trophy, and highest partnership in List A cricket (with B Sai Sudharshan). While he broke the record set by the likes of Virat Kohli in the last match, he has beaten the record of Rohit Sharma in the match earlier this week. The records may have come in numbers, but the 26-year-old is focused like a laser on giving consistent performances. “Obviously, it feels really good because I have been working, training in the technical and mental aspects of the game, and my fitness. When I am able to make an impact by using all these things I have worked on a lot, it feels good when it reaps rewards.”
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WORLD RECORD alert
— DK (@DineshKarthik) November 21, 2022
What an amazing effort by @Jagadeesan_200 . Couldn’t be happier for him. Big things await #5outta5
Sai Sudarshan what an amazing tournament so far. This opening combo is killing it .
Well done boys @TNCACricket #VijayHazareTrophy
Breaking records
Incidentally, the cricketer’s back-to-back centuries come on the heels of the IPL team Chennai Super Kings releasing him from his contract, a thought he was battling in the first game against Bihar where he scored only 5. He shares, “In the first game, I had a lot of pressure. I had just been released from a franchisee cricket team. I didn’t have a good feeling and there was extra added pressure when I went into the first game. I wasn’t really thinking about myself, I just had one thought that ‘you have to just score runs, runs, runs’ but obviously, when I am going to put so much pressure on myself, it is definitely not going to work for me. It may work for others but definitely didn’t work for me.”
However, Jagadeesan decided to do something about this and went back to his room and thought long and hard in the one day break till the next match. The wicketkeeper-batsmen even spoke to Prasanna from the team management about his batting and how he could work on it. He explains, “I had to just make peace with the decision that I may not get picked for an IPL team but what I can do is improve in the three months that I am not part of any team.” Just like any other kind of news, even this took a while for the Tamil Nadu-based cricketer to let it sink in. Luckily, Jagadeesan’s mental resilience is better than most other players his age. “I told myself, it is not the end of the road and you have to always improve in different aspects of the game. In the solid three months you have, you can slog and get fitter, get better as a cricketer and grow as a person,” he shares.
While he has made many records, the former Chennai Super Kings cricketer isn’t thinking about the future and is more settled and happier to be in the present. Jagadeesan is focused on the process of playing, rather than thinking about runs. “It is just about me playing ball by ball and just enjoying the game of cricket instead of thinking about runs.” One may think that the innings against Arunachal Pradesh is one of his favourite but that Jagadeesan says would only be if you consider the score because he has another favourite in this tournament. “The innings against Haryana was really good and one that I was happy about. The wicket wasn’t easy to bat on because it was seaming a lot and even in the 40th over, the ball was seaming a lot. Starting with playing the new ball with international players like Mohit Sharma and Jayant Yadav, that game was difficult, I had to put my head in and be very disciplined.”
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The Mumbai connection
Amid the records, one may not know but Jagadeesan actually has a connection with Mumbai. While he has family here, his father CJ Narayan has also been a cricketer and played in Mumbai. “I have played a lot of cricket in Mumbai because my dad himself was a cricketer in Mumbai and was from Mumbai. My dad was also coached by the great (Ramakant) Achrekar Sir, who was Sachin Tendulkar’s coach,” he shares.
So, it was no surprise when the 26-year-old tells us that he used to frequent the city in his early days. “When I had a summer break during school, he made sure I attended camps in Mumbai because the wickets in the city are really good because they have red soil wickets and it is challenging to bat. I came to Mumbai and worked with a couple of coaches like Chandrakant Pandit,” he adds. While cricket is one of the reasons, family is the other because he also comes to visit his sister every time he passes through the city.
Even as the news of the records settles down, ask Jagadeesan if the performance will make a statement to clubs, and he says, “I don’t know if it will make a statement because it is not under my control. I am only trying to focus on the things I can control and that is me playing cricket because there are other factors when it comes to selection and that is not in my hands. I am more focused on leaning towards the controllables.”
It is no different for a call up to play for the national team. “I am definitely looking up to a call-up because when you take up cricket in India and that becomes a profession, your ultimate aim is to represent India. A lot of things have to fall in place and that is not in my hands. If it happens, well and good, if not, you still learn and grow each and every day.”
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