When Karun Nair tweeted “Dear Cricket, give me another chance” in December 2022, it read like a heartfelt yearn from a man who once etched his name in history with a triple hundred but had since drifted into oblivion.
Fast forward to 2025, and Nair is finally back in India colours. But with the third Test at Lord’s approaching, it’s no longer about chances. It’s about survival. The 33-year-old made his Test comeback after a historic domestic season, one where he topped run charts in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with Bradmanesque numbers and guided Vidarbha to a Ranji Trophy title.
He was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy, amassing 863 runs from 16 innings at an impressive average of 53.93, which included four centuries and two fifties. In the 2024–25 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Nair was in a league of his own, topping the charts with 779 runs in just 8 innings at an astonishing average of 389.50, striking at over 124.
A double century in the tour game only added to the comeback narrative. However, he hasn’t transferred his domestic form into success of international cricket.
Time running out for Karun Nair
Across four innings in the series so far, Nair has scores of 0, 20, 31, and 26. None of those have looked convincing. At Edgbaston, a short-ball trap from Brydon Carse undid him twice. The promotion to No. 3, a role he hasn’t settled into naturally, has looked more like a square peg in a round hole.
Despite that, the team management, led by head coach Gautam Gambhir, has shown belief in Nair. Sai Sudharsan was dropped after just one Test, and Abhimanyu Easwaran hasn’t got a look-in yet. If not now, when?
Lord’s, the home of cricket, can break or build careers. Karun Nair knows this Test may be the tipping point as one more low score, and his India return might end here. If there’s any fire left in Nair, it must burn now.
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