Turn into a Jaggernaut

When two-time champion Chepauk Super Gillies (CSG) picked up a prized asset in wicketkeeper-batsman Narayan Jagadeesan in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL) player draft last year, it looked like a match made in heaven. 

After all, the most successful franchise in the League joined hands with the all-time TNPL top-scorer. Despite racking up a record tally – 1,352 runs in 32 innings – for his previous employer Dindigul Dragons (DD), Jagadeesan could never achieve TNPL glory in the first four editions between 2016 and 2019. 

An ace in the Super Gillies pack that is hunting for its third title, the 25-year-old Jagadeesan is hungry to contribute in every possible manner in Season 5. “I have come into a team which has a habit of winning trophies. There is a culture in place,” Jagadeesan told DT Next, ahead of CSG’s opening match against iDream Tiruppur Tamizhans (ITT) here on Tuesday. 

“Irrespective of the team I play for, my job is to score runs and keep wickets. There are a lot of known faces at CSG and I have acclimatised to the environment here,” said Tamil Nadu opener Jagadeesan, the highest run-getter at the 2020-21 Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy. 

Jagadeesan’s remarkable batting numbers in the TNPL make for great reading, but the Coimbatore-based stylist still has the thirst to notch up truckloads of runs. “Every time I step on the field, my goal is to score a lot of runs. That is the reason why I put in the hard yards during training sessions. I don’t look at the tournament, match or the duration of the fixture. I just try to be the best batsman in the match or competition I play in.” 

Jagadeesan is positive that the Kaushik Gandhi-led Super Gillies, which has a number of tried-and-tested weapons in its arsenal, will put on a show in the 2021 edition of the TNPL. “Our squad is really strong. We have players who are in the Tamil Nadu side. We also have a few players who are knocking on the doors of the India team. I will gain a lot of experience from what every franchise member brings to the table. If we stick to our plans and execute them, we should be in a good position in the League,” added Jagadeesan. 

While talking about playing the competition behind closed doors at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Jagadeesan said: “There is more fun and pressure when there are fans. But, we need to get on with the regulations as professionals. It will be a different challenge for everyone in the TNPL, but I am sure that the players will look to do their job first.”