Narayan Jagadeesan has been named as the replacement for Rishabh Pant in India’s squad for the fifth and final Test against England at The Oval. The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter has earned his maiden Test call-up after Pant was ruled out with a fractured metatarsal. The injury occurred while Pant attempted a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes on the first day of the fourth Test at Old Trafford. Pant has been one of India’s top performers in the series with 479 runs at an average of 68.42. His contributions included two centuries and three fifties. His absence is expected to be a major blow for India as they look to level the series in the final match of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
According to reports, Ishan Kishan was the BCCI’s first-choice replacement. However, the Jharkhand-based cricketer is currently recovering from an ankle injury.
Who is Narayan Jagadeesan?
Jagadeesan has played 52 first-class matches. He has scored 3,373 runs at an average of 47.50. His tally includes 10 centuries and 14 half-centuries. In the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season, he scored 674 runs in eight matches for Tamil Nadu at an average of 56.16. He registered two centuries and five fifties. Only Vidarbha’s Akshay Wadkar scored more runs among wicketkeeper-batters in the season.
In the Indian Premier League, Jagadeesan has featured in 13 matches. He played for Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored 73 runs in seven matches for CSK. In IPL 2023, he played six games for KKR and scored 89 runs.
Jagadeesan will compete with Dhruv Jurel for a spot in India’s playing eleven at The Oval.
India’s squad for the fifth Test includes Shubman Gill as captain, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh and Narayan Jagadeesan.
India National Cricket Team vs England Cricket Team Match Scorecard: India drew the fourth Test and trail the five-match series 2–1.
A win at The Oval would help the visitors level the series while England aim to seal it 3–1.
England v India Day 5 Highlights
