Jaggu is ready for the juggernaut

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If you plan to run 100 metres, prepare yourself for 110 metres because you cannot afford to decelerate when things are going at a fine pace,” says Kerala cricketer V.A. Jagadeesh as he prepares to captain the State team for the Buchi Babu Cricket Tournament starting next week.

The sturdy and temperamental right hander who replaced Raiphi Vincent Gomez in the captain’s cabinet last week offers a never-say-die attitude for the upcoming season and believes it is essential to approach the season with a fresh mindset.

“In the Buchi Babu Trophy, we play the likes of Bengal, Karnataka and Saurashtra and all the teams are quite strong but, we have faced them before and did well. As it is the beginning of a season it is quite important for us to start on the front foot,” said Jagadeesh.

The 28-year-old is also likely to captain the state for a 21-day South African tour to be held before the Ranji season, though it has not been officially announced.

However, Jaggu, as he is affectionately called, is positive that Kerala cricket is set on the right track.

“We have a balanced team, a couple of experienced guys, including myself, Raiphi, Rohan Prem, Hegde, Robert Fernandez and Rakesh. The youngsters are not ill-experienced either, but, it is only a matter of giving them the push at the right time,” he said.

You had a successful season as a batsman, so does that put your captaincy under pressure? (Jagadeesh scored one century and a fifty at an average of 37.16)

“Not really. I have learnt from my predecessors. I started my career under Sunil Oasis and then it was Sreekumaran Nair who led us. I have seen the way they handled pressure situations. It is all about keeping things simple and straight.”

“We just have to continue what we did and not think about any pressure that simply doesn’t exist,” said Jaggu, who is employed in the State Bank of Travancore.

Kerala had a good Ranji season altogether, how important is pre-season competition?

“Last year before the season we had a 15-day camp in Mohali. That helped us to get adjusted to a condition different from our home grounds. We started by winning three in a row, which was a positive style of cricket that we hadn’t played for a while.”

“I believe the upcoming South African tour is also going to give us that opportunity to get acclimatised to tough conditions and that will definitely help us improve our game in the upcoming season.”