As a cricket fan looking at the current situation, it’s a bit of a tricky one for Karun Nair. He made a fantastic comeback to the Test side after a long eight-year gap, largely on the back of his phenomenal domestic form, especially in the Ranji Trophy and Vijay Hazare Trophy where he was piling on the runs. He even scored a triple century for India A in a tour match leading up to this series, which was a great sign.
However, in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series against England, he hasn’t quite found his rhythm at the Test level. He started at number 6 in the first Test but has since been batting at number 3, a crucial position. While he’s gotten some starts, with scores like 31, 26, 40, and 14 at No. 3, he hasn’t been able to convert them into the big scores India needs from that spot. Deep Dasgupta, a former Indian wicketkeeper-batter, even suggested replacing him with Sai Sudharsan, who’s a younger player the team might want to invest in for the future.
The team management is certainly facing a dilemma. While captain Shubman Gill hinted that Karun might retain his place for the Manchester Test, saying “We think Karun is batting well” and acknowledging the difficulty of making a comeback in a tough series, 131 runs in six innings at number 3 isn’t inspiring huge confidence. India is also trailing 1-2 in the series, so they’ll be looking for impactful performances.
Given his recent struggles in the series, despite his domestic form and a captain’s backing, it’s genuinely 50/50. He’s been looking good in patches, but the big runs haven’t come. The team might give him one more opportunity to prove himself, considering his vast domestic experience and his double century in the warm-up games, but there’s definitely pressure on him to perform. It’ll be a tough call for the selectors.
