Who is Narayan Jagadeesan? Rishabh Pant's replacement for Oval Test
What's the story
Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan has been named as a replacement for the injured Rishabh Pant in India's squad for the fifth and final Test against England, which will be played at The Oval. The decision comes after scans confirmed that Pant had fractured his metatarsal during the fourth Test at Old Trafford. He sustained the injury while attempting a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes on day one of the match.
Player profile
First Test call-up for Jagadeesan
Jagadeesan, 29, has been rewarded with his first Test call-up after a stellar run in domestic cricket. He will be India's second specialist wicketkeeper in the squad, alongside Dhruv Jurel. KL Rahul won't be keeping wickets due to fitness issues. Jagadeesan has scored 3,373 runs from 79 First-Class innings at an average of 47.50 with 10 tons and 14 fifties. He also boasts 2,728 List A runs at 46.23 and 1,475 T20 runs at 31.38.
Impact assessment
Pant's absence will be felt
Pant is India's third-highest run-scorer in the ongoing series with 479 runs at an average of 68.42, including two centuries and three fifties. His absence will be felt as India look to end the five-match ICC World Test Championship series on a high note at The Oval. It must be noted that India earned a hard-fought draw in the fourth match. However, the Brits are still 2-1 up in the series.
DYK
Jagadeesan owns these records
Jagadeesan owns the record of slamming most runs in an edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy, India's most prolific List A competition. He was in sublime form in the 2022-23 season, having smashed 830 runs in eight games at 138.33 (100s: 5). The dasher even became the first batter to slam five successive centuries in List A cricket. Jagadeesan also recorded the highest individual List A score (277).
Team composition
India's squad for the 5th Test
India's squad for the fifth Test: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, and Narayan Jagadeesan (wk). A win at The Oval would help India draw the series while England will be looking to seal it 3-1.