Karun Nair’s comeback has been one of the standout stories in the leadup to India’s upcoming five-Test series in England and KL Rahul, a longtime teammate of his in domestic cricket, has expressed his delight. Head coach Gautam Gambhir all but confirmed that Nair will be in the playing XI for the first Test and Rahul acknowledged the difficulties 33-year-old had to endure in the years that he was out of contention.
“I’ve known him for a very long time and the months that he spent here in the UK, playing cricket and how hard and lonely it was and for him to be able to do all of that and come back into the Indian team. I think it’s special for him, for his family, and for friends like us who’ve seen his journey,” said Rahul in a video shared by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on its X handle.
The last of Nair’s six Test appearances came in March 2017. It is during this run that he famously scored an unbeaten triple century against England in December 2016 in . However, he scored just 71 runs across his six other innings before and after that knock which led to him losing his spot in Indian team.
His graph consistently went lower in subsequent years, even losing his spot with Karnataka in 2022 but Nair’s stunning season for Vidarbha in 2023/24 suddenly thrust him back in the limelight. He scored a whopping 1553 runs in 33 innings, including his career-best Ranji Trophy season with 883 runs culminating in a title win for Vidarbha this season.
“So, like I said very inspiring as well and hopefully his experience and his learnings from playing county cricket here will hold him in good stead when he plays the Test matches here,” said Rahul.
Gambhir stated that Nair’s inclusion in the team for the England tour is a message to youngsters to keep striving in domestic cricket. “All the youngsters will know its importance. If you keep doing well there, doors are never shut for you. It’s always good to have the experience of Karun, he played County cricket there and he is in really good form. His experience will come in handy. More importantly, we won’t judge someone by one or two Test matches. If someone has scored heaps of runs, he will be given a decent run,” he said.
