“You might get another call in one hour’s time” - N Jagadeesan breaks silence after India call-up during ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batter N Jagadeesan has said that he felt jittery while waiting for the call regarding his selection in India's squad for the fifth Test against England at The Oval. The 29-year-old said he received a call from one of the selectors, who asked him to wait for another authority to ring him up.

Jagadeesan has been reportedly called up to the Indian squad after Rishabh Pant injured his toe on Day 1 at Manchester. Speaking to The Times of India, he said,

“I got a call from a selector, and he said: ‘You might get another call in one hour’s time. So just be ready.’ And after that, I just had a lot of jitters waiting for the call. It was a very happy moment."

“I’ve always dreamt of being a part of the Indian Test team. I think wearing the whites has got something special to it. And that’s always been something in my head…something I really wanted to be part of. And for it to just happen, it was a very joyful moment.”

Jagadeesan admitted that he didn't feel he was in the reckoning all of a sudden. He added that he was part of a targetted list of players for a while and hence, the call-up did not come as a surprise.

“Maybe it’s out of the blue for a lot of people, but I’ve been part of the targeted players’ list for the past two to three years. I was with all the other targeted players at the NCA (National Cricket Academy) for the entire year and over the last two and a half years," Jagadeesan said.

N Jagadeesan praises Rishabh Pant for his comeback to cricket after the accident

N Jagadeesan recalled the time he spent with Rishabh Pant during the Duleep Trophy. Referring to him as a "superstar", the Tamil Nadu player said it was very brave of Pant to return to playing cricket again after his horrific accident in December 2022.

“No doubt he’s (Pant) a superstar. The kind of cricketer he is, it’s really special. And the way he came back from the accident, it was really brave. It’s something that a lot of people probably would not have done. Last year, we were in the same Duleep Trophy side (India B), so that’s when we actually got to play together for the first time,” he said.

In Pant's absence, Dhruv Jurel once again donned the gloves in the first innings at Old Trafford and if England do bat in the last innings of the match, he will again don the gloves. Jurel had kept wickets for large parts of the Lord's Test match as well after Pant had injured his index finger while keeping in the first innings.