Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) wicketkeeper-batter Narayan Jagadeesan recently shared MS Dhoni’s reassuring words to him during the 2023 IPL season, a year after he had left CSK as well. He was part of the CSK setup from 2018 to 2022 but played only seven matches (five in 2020 and two in 2022) as well. After they released Jagadeesan, KKR signed him for the 2023 IPL season. He played six matches for KKR in IPL 2023 but scored only 89 runs at a dismal average of under 15 as well and he went unsold at the IPL auctions since the poor 2023 edition.
In a recent interview with Crictracker, he said: “No one in particular. Nobody called me to tell me that I was going to be released. But the fun part about this is that I got picked for KKR the next year. After a game against CSK that year, it was Mahi bhai (Dhoni), who actually took me to the dressing room, and he sat with me and spoke with me for about 25 minutes. If nobody had picked you, I would’ve re-picked you in CSK, is what he told me.”
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“He was explaining to me that we were going to release you because you’ve been with us for five years and we have given you a lot of opportunities. He also said that the idea behind releasing you was that I didn’t see a lot of opportunities coming your way. It was very heartwarming, coming from a guy like MS Dhoni. He took his time and told me about this. At that point, there was no communication before he sat with me and told me this,” he again shared.
Narayan Jagadeesan also expressed disappointment at not getting a long and consistent run with CSK as well. Despite being part of the franchise for five years, he played only seven games as well.
“It would have been better if I had played a lot more than what I played in CSK. I genuinely felt I had a good debut of 33 runs against RCB, and the next game I was dropped. Then I was in and out, and the next season, I was dropped the entire year before I got a chance again. A bit more backing would have been better, no doubt about it,” Narayan Jagadeesan concluded.
