RBI<\/a>).<\/p>\nThe HDFC Bank stock rose 3.8% on Tuesday to close at Rs 1040.20, with investors relieved a successor to Puri has finally been found. Given the lender is among India\u2019s most valuable companies, it is understandable investors have been hoping for a seamless transition as it would be critical for the bank\u2019s continued growth. Kaizad Bharucha, head of HDFC\u2019s wholesale banking division, and Sunil Garg, of Citibank, were among the other candidates in the reckoning.<\/p>\n
Jagdishan was recently anointed the bank\u2019s \u2018change agent\u2019 in what was seen as a thinly-concealed nod from Aditya Puri to his preferred successor.<\/p>\n
He joined HDFC Bank, one of post-liberalisation India\u2019s newest institutions in 1996, as a manager in the finance function.<\/p>\n
He rose to become business head- finance in 1999 and was appointed chief financial officer in 2008. He has led the finance function through turbulent times and the experience will stand him in good stead.<\/p>\n
Jagdishan now heads a host of functions \u2014 finance, human resources, legal and secretarial, administration, infrastructure, corporate communications and corporate social responsibility. Called Sashi by most at the bank he had not always planned such a trajectory for his career. In typical Indian fashion, he once dreamt of being a world-class cricketer, in the league of a Sunil Gavaskar. Like a large number of Indians, again, he eventually went to college and graduated with a degree in physics. By then, he had reoriented himself for a career in academics. Soon, though, a senior professional he was in awe of convinced him that there was little to gain from going in that direction. Rather, a career in finance had a lot more to offer.<\/p>\n
On a muggy Bombay afternoon, having spent the morning in the Fort area figuring out where he could do a CA, he walked into Fergusons near the State Bank of India<\/a> (SBI<\/a>) building. He walked up to the senior partner there and told him he wanted to do a CA. \u201cI also told him that I knew nothing about the subject and that if he asked me any questions, I would walk away,\u201d Jagdishan had told FE in 2019.<\/p>\nSure enough, Fergusons asked him to join them the next day and that marked the turning point in Jagdishan\u2019s life. Along the way, Jagdishan has become a regular at HDFC Bank\u2019s analyst and investor calls \u2014 critical terrain for executives at one of the world\u2019s most-valued banks. During the last such call, Puri said, \u201c\u2026the main successors in respect of where the RBI finger points are \u2014 have been with me. They understand the business. They were part of the transformation. They were part of the training. The people love them, so there is no issue on who is the successor.\u201d Soon after, he entrusted the analysts\u2019 questions to \u201cmy brilliant agent Mr. Jagdishan.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.financialexpress.com\/2020\/08\/1-136.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.financialexpress.com\/2020\/04\/telegram.png\")