South Zone and North Zone lock horns in the Duleep Trophy semifinal. South Zone have piled up a mountain of runs in the first innings as they amassed 536 batting first. Meanwhile, a star batter hit 197 and fell a little short of a record-breaking score.
Recently part of India’s squad for the fifth and final Test match of the Test series against England, Narayan Jagadeesan slammed a masterful 197 in the Duleep Trophy 2025 semifinal on Friday, September 5. Playing for the South Zone in their semifinal against the North Zone, the wicketkeeper batter hit 197 from 352, but missed out on a well-deserved double ton and a major record after a heartbreaking run-out.
Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper batter Jagadeesan and Andhra’s Ricky Bhui were involved in a big mix-up on Day 2 of the first innings, with the former being run out. Bhui tapped Mayank Dagar to point as Jagadeesan called for a run. The Andhra batter agreed but stopped as the ball was stopped by Nishant Sindhu. However, the wicketkeeper batter charged towards the striker’s end and the ball was quickly passed to the bowler, who then dislodged the stumps as Jagadeesan was adjudged out.ย
The dismissal made Jagadeesan furious and gave a mouthful to Bhui, who didn’t leave his crease for the run despite the Tamil Nadu batter being three runs away from his double century.
Jagadeesan surpassed KL Rahul, misses historic record
Meanwhile, Jagadeesan surpassed India star batter KL Rahul with his 197-run knock. His 197 are the third most runs by a wicketkeeper batter in the history of the Duleep Trophy. Jagadeesan fell 21 runs short of breaking the all-time record for the highest individual score by a wicketkeeper batter in the tournament. The record belongs to former India batter Naman Ojha, who had made 217 for Central Zone against North Zone in 2014, with former India international Saba Karim holding the second score of 200 that he made for West Zone against East Zone in 1995.
Highest scores by wicketkeeper batters in Duleep Trophy:
1 – Naman Ojha: 217 for Central Zone against North Zone in 2014
2 – Saba Karim: 200 for West Zone against East Zone in 1995
3 – N Jagadeesan: 197 for South Zone against North Zone in 2025
4 – Saba Karim: 190 for East Zone against North Zone in 1996
5 – Chandrakant Pandit: 189 for Central Zone against West Zone in 1996
Meanwhile, South piled up a huge total of 536. Along with Jagadeesan’s 197, Devdutt Padikkal, Ricky Bhui, and Tanay Thyagarajan hit half-centuries. Nishant Sindhu picked a five-wicket haul for North as he took 5/125 in his 47.2 overs.ย
Talking about Jagadeesan, the wicketkeeper batter was called into India’s squad for the fifth and final Test of the recently concluded Test series between India and England. Jagadeesan was flown to England after Rishabh Pant’s foot injury that he suffered during the fourth Test at Old Trafford. The Tamil Nadu batter was not called into the Playing XI, with the visitors bringing in Dhruv Jurel for the Oval Test that India famously won by six runs.