Is Karun Nair's Test journey over? Here are the details
What's the story
India announced their squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies. One major notable absentee in the team is Karun Nair. The veteran batter has been dropped from the squad. Nair, who was earlier included in India's tour of England, failed to cash in and disappointed everyone with his batting. The selectors have therefore stuck with Sai Sudharsan and got in Devdutt Padikkal. Here are further details.
Team dynamics
Nair dropped from the Test side
Nair returned to the Test fold in England after a long gap of nearly seven years. He played four matches but only managed one half-century, which came during the final Test at The Oval. Despite getting starts and looking solid at the crease, he struggled to convert those into big scores that could have secured his spot in the team.
Scores
An average of 25.62 in the England tour for Nair
Nair scored 0 and 20 at the Headingley in Leeds. In Birmingham, he got 31 and 26. In the 3rd Test at Lord's, Nair managed 40 and 14. He was dropped for the 4th Test in Manchester. He made a comeback in the final Test and got 57 and 17. In 4 Tests (8 innings), Nair returned with a modest 205 runs at 25.62
Player returns
Devdutt Padikkal returns to the team, replaces Nair
Padikkal had made a comeback to the team in place of Nair. He was part of the India squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 and played in Perth Test. Padikkal, who has played 2 Test matches for India, has done well in FC cricket of late. Recently, he bagged 57 and 16* for South Zone vs North Zone in the Duleep Trophy. Thereafter, he struck 150 for India A against Australia A in an unoffical Test.
Information
End of the road for Nair?
Nair's Test journey seems all but over. He didn't capitalize on his 2nd chance and paid the price with selectors looking elsewhere. The inclusion of Padikkal and Sudharsan highlights India's way forward. Besides Nair, the likes of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz Khan have been ignored.
Words
We expected more from Karun, says Ajit Agarkar
BCCI chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar said they expected more from Nair and reasoned out Padikkal's selection. "We expected more from Karun. Padikkal offers a little bit more at this point," he said in a press conference. "Wish we could give everyone 15-20 Tests, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. Padikkal was in the Test squad in Australia, played against England in Dharamsala, got a fifty there. He's shown some decent form. Frankly, we expected a bit more from Karun."