When India dropped Karun Nair for the fourth Test match in Manchester, it looked like game over for the 33-year-old. But, as destiny would have it, Nair has another opportunity to save his sinking Test career. Shubman Gill-led side has included Nair for the fifth Test match at Kennington Oval as India have gone ahead with a batting-heavy lineup. Nair has replaced Shardul Thakur for the decisive Test.
Nair made a bucketload of runs to make a comeback into the Indian Test setup. The retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played its part and Nair found a place in the Test setup after eight years. He’s largely remembered for the marathon 300 he scored against England in India but the career has needed redemption since then.
Nair toiled hard in the domestic circuit, hammering 863 runs at 53.94. The Vijay Hazare Trophy saw him in an unbeatable mode as Nair mustered a heroic 779 runs at an unimaginable average of 389.50. All this handed Nair an opportunity in the India A team. Against England Lions, Nair gave another perfect audition as he clubbed a superb double century. It showed his hunger to prove his mettle once again.
Failure for Nair in IND vs ENG
But when the real chance came, Karun Nair faltered. Scoring 131 runs in 3 matches, he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations at all. However, three matches into his comeback, the narrative has changed. After a poor showing in Leeds, where he scored a duck and 20 runs batting out of position at number six, Nair returned to his preferred spot at number three in the next two Tests. Unfortunately, he failed to capitalize on his opportunities, getting out after reaching double digits each time.
So, why did Karun Nair struggle? It seems like he hasn’t quite found his footing in Test cricket yet, despite his impressive domestic and IPL performances. Perhaps he needs to work on converting his starts into bigger scores or finding a way to bat more consistently under pressure.
Now, with Gautam Gambhir needing extra cushion with the bat, he has brought Nair back in. Nair is perhaps deemed to bat at number five, a place where Rishabh Pant has been undisputable. But Nair has a great wealth of experience playing at that number and would need to score massive runs to stake his claim.
India’s Playing XI vs END 5th Test
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel(w), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
