N Jagadeesan is vying to substitute Rishabh Pant for the remainder of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. The right-handed keeper batter from Tamil Nadu is all but confirmed to be added to the squad. Expected soon is the announcement.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) along with the national selectors and the touring team management were in search of a fitting replacement for Pant who was confirmed to the missing the series due to a right toe fracture. The injury was sustained while batting on Day 1 of the fourth Test at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Eventually the 29-year-old Jagadeesan was selected and is set to be part of the team prior to the fifth and final Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. There was speculation regarding Ishan Kishan and the team management were considering him, but it turned out that the 27-year-old keeper from Jharkhand is unavailable.

Jagadeesan was selected due to his remarkable performance in domestic tournaments, especially in red-ball cricket. His first class record includes 52 matches with 3373 runs at a commendable average of 47.50 which includes 10 centuries and 14 half-centuries.

During the last Ranji season, he scored a total of 674 runs in eight matches with a stellar average of 56.16, racking up two hundreds and five fifties. This was the highest runs scored by his teammate and he also amassed most runs for his state in the competition. Among the wicketkeepers, he was second best in aggregate with Vidarbha’s Akshay Wadkar having 722 runs at 45.12 in 10 matches.

In a perfect situation, the selectors would have gone with the keeper from the A tour preceding the tour matches. However, with very few choices left, Kishan being injured and Dhruv Jurel already part of the senior squad, out of the available, options turned out to be choosing the by from the senior squad.

KS Bharat, another keeper-batter was also available. He is currently in England playing for Dulwich CC. The Andhra keeper does have the experience of playing a Test in England, so his exclusion was a bit of a surprise.

Durel is expected to keep the wickets for the ongoing Old Trafford Test. There is also the possibility for India to return to KL Rahul who has previously kept wickets in the international matches, including the World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

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