"You Think You Can Hit Me Like That?" Narayan Jagadeesan Recalls Being Sledged By Shane Watson

When a rookie batsman hits an unorthodox shot against an unexperienced bowler, the latter is bound to get inflamed. Tamil Nadu wicket-keeper batsman Narayan Jagadeesan’s story wasn’t any different when he locked horns against the former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson. During a Youtube session with Arun Venugopal, Narayan Jagadeesan recalled when Watson swore at him after he played an outrageous shot against the bowler.

Also Read: Mitchell Starc Supplies Video Evidence To Prove Injury For $1.53 Million IPL Insurance Payout

Narayan Jagadeesan is an Indian domestic cricketer, who has so far featured in a little more than 50 games across first-class, List A, and T20s. On the other hand, Shane Watson is undeniably one of the significant figures in international cricket, who had his road to becoming one of the best all-rounders through IPL. It was in the inaugural season of the cash-rich league that the Queenslander bagged the man of the tournament award for his all-round show.

The 2017 edition saw Jagadeesan arrive at the trials for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) when Watson played for them. In one of the deliveries, the 24-year old switch-hit Watson for a boundary via a switch hit. The Australian all-rounder responded by giving cuss words to him. Narayan Jagadeesan revealed that the next two balls, Watson ran in with aggression and it was the final set of deliveries before he walked out of the nets.

“When Shane Watson was bowling to me, I played a switch-hit against him which went to the boundary. Watson was furious. He came up to me and said ‘what do you think of yourself? You think you can hit me like that?’ He literally swore at me. The next two balls, he steamed in with intent. As things panned out, the coach said it was the last set (of deliveries) at the nets. Before Watson could take my head off, I walked out of the nets!”

Narayan Jagadeesan Went On To Play For Chennai Super Kings:

A year later, when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bought Shane Watson in the auction, Narayan Jagadeesan was also in the scheme of things for them. Initially, Watson couldn’t recognize the Tamil Nadu-born player before Jagadeesan mentioned the words “switch-hit”. The yellow army went on to win the trophy for the third time that year.

“Oh yeah, I reminded him about it during my very first year. Initially, Watson couldn’t remember the incident, but when I told him ‘switch hit’, he instantly remembered. He was like, “hey, you were the guy”. I just said yes.”

Also Read: Afghanistan Wicket-Keeper Afsar Zazai Suffers Head Injury In Horrific Accident