Some days, even the occasional Monday, are worth reliving over a lifetime. Narayan Jagadeesan will vouch for this sentiment for he broke two individual world records, equalled one and collaborated to inspire a new standard in three others.
All this on the back of one knock, the kind of innings which possesses the power to dictate the next few years of his career.
277 from 141 balls with 25 boundaries and 15 sixes at a strike rate of 196.45!
Even Arunachal Pradesh, the opponents, clapped in awe of what ensued as Jagadeesan’s chanceless belligerence resulted in TN putting up 506 runs for the loss of two wickets in 50 overs. Sai Sudarshan’s 154-run contribution to the 416-run opening stand can’t be ignored either. “I wasn’t worried about what the bowlers were bowling,” said Jagadeesan after the game. “Once I was in that zone, I was only looking at gaps and I was piercing these gaps. More importantly, I wasn’t trying to hit the ball too hard.”
That M Siddarth picked up a fifer and was instrumental in AP being bowled out for 71 was but a footnote. In fact, that TN won by 435 runs itself paled in comparison to the magnitude of Jagadeesan’s statement piece. At the time of his ‘disappointing’ release from the Indian Premier League contract he had held with the Chennai Super Kings until November 15, Jagadeesan had already scored a couple of centuries against Andhra and Chhattisgarh in Group C.
Thereafter, Goa and Haryana were toyed with just the same as he capped off his dominance in Alur with 517 runs from four games, some 25 kilometres from the hallowed confines of the M Chinnaswamy stadium.
With four List-A centuries to boot, Jagadeesan arrived at the Chinnaswamy on an especially chilly Monday morning on the cusp of one world record. Though fellow TN cricketer Dinesh Karthik, while lauding Jagadeesan’s efforts, questioned the logic of having north-east teams in Elite groups, it shouldn’t take anything away from the 26-year-old’s innings.
He was already part of an illustrious list of batters in world cricket who had a streak of four List A centuries in a row, but he chose to surpass them, and how. He now stands alone as the only batter in history to have five List A tons in a row. If that wasn’t enough, he also amassed the highest-ever List A score, overtaking the 268 set by Alistair Brown exactly two decades ago.
It’s easy to give into temptation and suppose a change in technique, or some such, as the key to his turnaround after a rather mediocre Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (118 runs from 6 games) less than a month ago.
Jagadeesan shot down the assumption quick, saying: “I am not someone who fiddles with my technique.”
As he elaborated his route to new-found success, the mantra, it turns out, is far simpler than that, and it came from MS Dhoni. Sounds about right given the nature of the advice and Jagadeesan’s proximity with the CSK skipper over seven IPL games in two editions.
“Everyone tells you to continue to enjoy the game, but it’s not easy when you’re playing competitive cricket,” said Jagadeesan with an effervescence emblematic of his predecessors from the state side. “But Dhoni told me to enjoy the game and it stuck. That was the first and only thing he told me when I made my debut.
“When you’re playing Under-13 cricket, you don’t think about getting selected or anything like that. You enjoy the game without any pressure. That’s what I am doing now. Simply enjoy the game.”
Admittedly, that’s easier said than done, but as Jagadeesan said with a chuckle: “When it rains, you should make it pour.”
Not a bad attitude to have with another auction around the corner.