Ranji Trophy: N Jagadeesan returns to natural shotmaking game, scores ton to put Tamil Nadu in comfortable position against Railways

The last 14 months have been a roller coaster ride for N Jagadeesan. The need to improve his strike-rate had seen him walk out of his shell in T20s, which led to him owning the world record for the highest individual record in List A cricket. In the Ranji Trophy, he scored 534 runs in seven matches, his highest tally so far. But as he stepped out and lofted left-arm spinner Akash Pandey to reach the three-figure mark on Day 1 of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy third-round fixture against Railways here on Friday, it felt as if he was getting a monkey off his shoulders.

Despite a strong white-ball performance last season, Jagadeesan didn’t even start for TN in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, playing only two games. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy that followed, he tallied just 137 runs in 8 matches. And as the Ranji Trophy began, he was handed a demotion in the batting order, with youngsters Vimal Khumar and B Sachin preferred alongside B Sai Sudharsan.

However, on the eve of this crucial game against Railways, captain Kishore gave Jagadeesan a chance to open at his home ground and the 28-year-old’s unbeaten 155 meant Tamil Nadu ended Day 1 at 286/5, recovering from a slight wobble in the second session.

To show intent or not has been a question surrounding Jagadeesan throughout his career. A top-order batsman, who prefers to play shots, he has been pulled up in the past for being too brash. When he has gone into a shell, he has appeared far from the batsman he is. Finding a middle ground seemed the only way out. And on Friday, handed another chance to open, Jagadeesan was in no mood to keep his natural game away.

When he wanted to attack, he fully backed himself. When he wanted to drop anchor, especially after the fall of Baba Indrajith and Vijay Shankar in quick succession, he did so without any fuss. “I’m really happy that I opened the innings because in the first game, it was No. 7 and 8. It was something I was doing a couple of years back. I think that is what the team needed then. And even now, the team wanted me to open, so I’m really happy about that. But given a choice, I’d like to bat up. So when Sai told me that I will open, I just felt good because, I would get to face more deliveries,” Jagadeesan said.

To show intent or not has been a question surrounding Jagadeesan throughout his career. (File)

Having lost Khumar in the first over and newcomer B Sachin at the other end, on a good batting track, Jagadeesan was in total control. Whenever the Railways attack offered him a chance to free his arms, he did so with full authority. While he took time to get through the first hour of play without further damage, once he got his eyes in, he seldom committed to a loose shot. And it was only when he passed fifty that he brought out his lofted shots, picking three sixes on the way to his seventh century in First Class cricket.

“My mindset was very clear. It was to have intent from ball one. You need to put the bowlers under pressure and if you are able to do it and put some fielders at the boundary line, then getting singles and doubles gets easier. And you know once we start running hard, then there will always be two different batters playing the bowler so you know the chances of us getting runs is a lot more,” Jagadeesan said of his approach, especially with Sachin and Boopathi Vaishna Kumar.

If the 84-run stand with Sachin laid the foundation, the 142-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Boopathi course corrected TN and put them on course for a big first innings total on a surface that is beginning to turn. In the century stand, with no other experienced batsmen to follow, Jagadeesan shelved the big shots for singles and doubles with the odd boundary coming his way. But most of the battle lay in his mind, especially to put behind the last few months.

“It was definitely a big mental battle to be honest because things are not the same like last year. The coach is different, everybody is different. And people have different opinions and they can be judgmental at times. But it was very clear in my head… I wasn’t going to take anything personally and it was just up to me and up to me, no one else. I just wanted to express myself and not worry about getting dropped for not scoring runs. If I’m going to be dropped, I might as well get dropped by showing intent,” he said.

While Jagadeesan did get a chance to show what he is capable of offering at the top, there are still questions that he doesn’t have any answers to. “After last year, since the first match of this season, I don’t know why there was an axe over my head. Two tournaments have just gone by. There’s nothing more to lose. You can’t worry about things that are uncontrollable and go and be defensive and play tight.. I think that’s not my game as well. I’m a shot maker so if I get out playing a shot, then I’ll be happy. There’s no point playing defense and getting out,” he adds.

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