Narayan Jagadeesan

Narayan Jagadeesan has carved a name for himself as one of the most prolific wicketkeeper-batters in Indian domestic cricket. Blessed with sound technique and the ability to score heavily across formats, he has been the backbone of Tamil Nadu’s batting in recent years. 

Jagadeesan's maiden India Test team call-up was a reward for his prolific run over the past two Ranji Trophy seasons (2023/24 & 2024/25) when he was asked to replace the injured Rishabh Pant in the squad for the Oval Test in August 2025. The wicketkeeper-batter was later named in the Test squad for the home series against the West Indies in October 2025. 

Cricket runs in his family. His father, C.J. Narayan, a former cricketer, played a big role in shaping his early journey. Jagadeesan spent long hours at local grounds in Coimbatore, honing his wicketkeeping skills while steadily improving as a batsman. Interestingly, he once dreamt of becoming a fast bowler, but his natural reflexes and batting flair pushed him towards keeping wickets and occupying the top order.

The 1995-born player made an instant impact on his first-class debut, scoring an unbeaten 123 for Tamil Nadu in the Ranji Trophy in 2016, a knock that announced his arrival. Since then, he has been a consistent presence across formats, often rescuing his side in difficult situations. Over the years, he has been part of the India A side on multiple occasions.

Good performances in the domestic circuit caught the eyes of Chennai Super Kings scouts, and Jagadeesan was roped in by the three-time IPL champions ahead of the 2018 IPL season. However, he did not feature in any of the matches but gained valuable experience sitting in the dugout with the likes of MS Dhoni and Shane Watson. 

He made his IPL debut in 2020 against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He has also represented the Kolkata Knight Riders in the process.

Playing for Tamil Nadu, he scored a record five centuries in the Vijay Hazare Trophy in the 2022/23 season. Among those tons, one was his score of 277 off just 141 balls against Arunachal Pradesh in Bengaluru. Notably, it is still the highest individual score in men's List A cricket. Apart from that, the knock created many more records, including that of the fastest List A double hundred by an Indian. 

In the Ranji Trophy 2023/24 season, he registered his highest first-class score. The Tamil Nadu batter scored 321 runs in a match against Chandigarh. Jagadeesan rewrote Tamil Nadu’s record books as his majestic match-winning 321 not only eclipsed W.V. Raman’s long-standing mark of 313 but also powered his side to a mammoth total of 610 in the first innings.

He has also thrived in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), playing several match-winning knocks for various franchises. Currently, he plays for the Chepauk Super Gillies in TNPL. 

With the weight of runs behind him, he remains one of India’s strongest domestic performers, pushing hard for a regular place in the national Test team.

(As of September 2025)