‘Comeback Season’: The Whatsapp group that brought Karun Nair back from the brink

“’I don’t know what to do, sir. Let’s please discuss and do something…’”

Coach Vijayakumar Madyalkar vividly remembers the sombre evening when his former Karnataka U-25 ward had checked into his academy with a desperate plea to revive his career. India’s second Test triple-centurion, , suddenly had nowhere to go after Karnataka – his domestic abode throughout his formative years – had landed a stunning snub after the 2022 season in June.

An emotional tweet in the winter of 2022 wouldn’t have been enough to tether the widening gulf between him and ‘Dear Cricket.’ Picking himself up, one watchful step at a time, Nair plotted his deeply personal attempt to fight back from the wilderness with Madyalkar and a WhatsApp group.

On Saturday, the purpose of Nair’s ‘Comeback Season’ group with his trainer, Sai Prasanna and his assistant was fulfilled after two whole years of sweat, tears and a grind in silence. An improbable Test return, a first in seven years, was made possible over the course of an epochal domestic season across formats. A transitioning Team India is now bidding to lean in on Nair’s wiser profile for a new era under in another World Test Championship cycle.

Not too long ago, everything had come to a standstill for Nair as he rummaged for answers between the painful Karnataka rejection in July ‘22 and a First-Class comeback 14 months later in Northamptonshire.

Turning to his former Karnataka U-19 and U-25 coach, Madyalkar at the Just Cricket Academy on the outskirts of , Nair journeyed nearly three hours every second day for a gruelling semester of reset.

“He was internally broken. I didn’t want to discuss why he couldn’t make the Karnataka team. I just told him not to worry, and we will only look at the batsman in him and refine the skills as much as possible,” Madyalkar says.

‘600 a day’

“Six months. Every alternate day, he used to come to bat 600 balls precisely, facing the side-arm throwers and other bowlers in our academy.”

Having seen the likes of and Nair since their age-group days, Madyalkar insists the duo stressed intensity and shot refinement above overt technical adjustments.

The lack of matches at home during a full-fledged domestic season set in panic. “He wanted to test his game but we just could not get him any game time here. There were no opportunities in India when the season was on, and so he had latched onto the County stint that came after a year.”

Arriving at the Oval, the venue of his 2018 heartbreak and exit from the Indian side, Nair struck a career-reviving 150 in only his second county division 1 game for Northamptonshire.

The stint would pave the way for a pivotal ‘guest’ player union with Vidarbha for 2023-24, thrusting his red-ball credentials back into the national picture. 1553 runs in 33 innings, including his career-best Ranji Trophy season with 883 runs culminating in a title win for Vidarbha this season, meant Nair’s middle-order stoicism had its worth for the national side in the wake of a red-ball crisis.

“He has compelled the national selectors here with his performances for a recall,” Vidarbha coach Usman Ghani tells , recalling Nair’s seamless transition into the side within his first year.

In hindsight, Ghani says the decision to elevate Nair to 50-over captaincy for the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament earlier this year proved to be a pathbreaking move.

“When a player like Karun came, he was tasked with the middle order. He had blossomed in his first season itself, so we decided to make him the captain for the Vijay Hazare this time. The added responsibility just got the best out of him. That momentum, that confidence, he brought them into the knockouts of the Ranji Trophy,” Ghani says.

Despite ending up short in the final to Karnataka in the VHT, Nair’s eye-popping 779 runs at 389.50 and five centuries (four in succession) would gather steam and chatter for an India recall. The stupendous Ranji Trophy knockouts – 423 runs including a century in the final against Kerala in March – eventually sealed the deal.

“Karun is a supreme athlete in the mental aspects. He had this honest feeling and work ethic to regain his place in the Test squad. That’s something all youngsters can learn from. He looked after his fitness too. So, that’s how the selectors rewarded him today,” Ghani remarks.

“He lost 10 kilos and gained about 5 kilos back in muscles. After the first couple of games when he started scoring this season, we introduced him to a lot of power training and heavy lifts. He just wanted to transform completely,” says Prasanna.

Yet, the Nair of ‘18 and ‘25 aren’t contrasting in many ways to his coach. Having retained the core of his technique and temperament, Madyalkar is “praying” that Karun smashes India’s first century on the tour.

When the Oval reunion beckons in a series-ending fifth match in August, Nair will hope he has better answers written this time, for himself and India’s reimagined Test middle-order.

Lalith Kalidas is a Senior Sub-Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Working with the online sports desk, Lalith specializes in the happenings on the cricket field, with a particular interest in India’s domestic cricket circle. He also carries an affinity towards data-driven stories and often weaves them into cricketing contexts through his analysis. Lalith also writes the weekly stats-based cricket column – ‘Stats Corner’. A former cricketer who has played in state-level tournaments in Kerala, he has over three years of experience as a sports journalist. Lalith also covered the 2023 ODI World Cup held in India.

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