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India's Karun Nair walks after being caught during day four of the second cricket test match between England and India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, England, Saturday, July 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Karun Nair, after having a prolific period in domestic cricket, has returned to the Indian side against England. although he did look good in patches so far in three games, he is yet to make a substantial score for the side. He started at six in the first Test in Headingly and moved up to three later in Edgbaston.
“Karun Nair banged and broke the door, did everything, and made a comeback. That is why he has been in the 11 as well. But from No.5 or 6, he was shifted up to No.3 as he has experience. Given the number of runs he scored, he got a chance because of that. But has he grabbed the opportunity so far? I don’t think so, and there will be a lot of pressure on him,” Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz, speaking on Karun Nair.
“Will India look at continuity? They should. Because if you are playing any player with some logic, you want the player to prove that right. But it is also important to see if the player has converted the runs based on the experience. Has he done it? maybe not. So it will be interesting to see what Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill think about him for the next game,” Kartik added.
Other reactions
Former India player Ravi Shastri pointed out that in the recent match at Lord’s, Nair had suffered a huge lapse in concentration while batting.
“Having said that, again at 40/1 [in the second innings], I thought that was a huge lapse in concentration from Karun Nair to leave a straight ball, a nothing ball, to leave it and open the door for England. I thought that the timing of that dismissal turned things around,” said Shastri on the ICC Review.
Former player Deep Dasgupta, meanwhile, said that it might be time to give a chance to Sudharsan in place of Nair in the 4th Test.
“You don’t want many changes in the Playing XI. If you have to make one, it’ll be Sai Sudharsan for Karun Nair. It’s not like Nair hasn’t made runs. He has got starts but hasn’t converted them into big scores. He also didn’t look very comfortable while batting either. The thing that goes in Sai’s favour is that he is a young player. He’ll gain experience playing in England which will be beneficial in the long run. If you have to invest in someone, it’ll be on a young player. While Karun has gotten starts, he hasn’t looked convincing. So if you have to invest, you would rather invest in a younger lad like Sai Sudharsan. We don’t know when you’ll be back in England so if you have 2 matches remaining, invest in Sudharsan,” Dasgupta said.
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