Karun Nair’s childhood coach Vijay Madyalkar doesn’t agree with the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar’s assessment of his protégé’s performance in the India vs England Test series. “We expected more from Karun Nair. It can’t be just one innings,” Agarkar had said.
Karun Nair deserved chance
Madyalkar says this while defending Nair and criticising his exclusion from India’s Test squad for the upcoming West Indies series. He thinks the 33-year-old had done the best one could in tough conditions. But Nair’s average of 25.62 doesn’t suggest he’d done that well.
“I felt very bad for him. He deserved one more chance; that is what I feel. But, again, it is the selectors’ call. They think in a different way. He got a chance in tough conditions in England. In those conditions, what best one can do, he did it. He scored all those runs in India in the lead-up to his comeback. I think they should have given him a chance in India. He is best suited for Indian conditions, as of now. In England, the conditions were not always easy for batting,” Madyalkar told India Today.
Nair was aghast when learning about his non-selection. “You should probably ask the selectors what they’re thinking. The only thing is, in the last Test match also, I got a 50 when no one else scored in the first inning. So, yeah, I thought I contributed to the team, especially in the last game that we won,” he’d said after the squad was announced.
Can come back like Vinod Kambli
But Madyalkar believes Nair can still come back into the Test team. One can’t forget that he made a return after 8 years, when it seemed impossible. Now that he’s done it once, Madyalkar believes he can surely do it. He cited Vinod Kambli as an example, who was dropped from the ODI and Test teams but made several comebacks after performing in domestic cricket.
With the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season coming up, Madyalkar believes Nair can make a case for himself again.
“He will have more hunger now. When you go through highs and lows every season, you mature a lot as a cricketer. So, it becomes easier for him to prepare well and show that hunger. He will only become stronger. He has got that in him and is raring to go again. No way, the door is shut. The Ranji Trophy season is coming up. You have a lot of matches. It’s open for him. If he continues to perform in the domestic league, there’s certainly a way forward.”
“Only one thing I would say: keep scoring runs whenever you play. That’s the only thing you can control. The rest is not in your control. He has already proved he can make a comeback. He has that character. Many players in the past have done that — come back three or four times. Someone like Vinod Kambli is an example. He has got the hunger, and that’s the most important thing. He will keep scoring runs. I don’t see any other way,” Madyalkar concluded.
