Karun Nair hopes to continue rich vein of form in final

Karun Nair at the VCA Stadium in Nagpur.
| Photo Credit: P.K. Ajith Kumar

Karun Nair has perhaps known the glorious uncertainties of cricket, and life, more than most players.

He scored a triple hundred in only his third Test, was dropped for the next (because he had only stepped in for an injured Ajinkya Rahane). He played three more Tests before he was discarded, back in 2017.

Then he was dropped from all the Karnataka teams in 2022, prompting to write that famous, heart-breaking tweet of his, “Dear cricket, give me one more chance.”

Cricket did.

Karun has made the best out of it. He even staked a claim for a place in the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy with an unreal show at the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Vidarbha, with scores of 112 not out, 44 not out, 163 not out, 111 not out, 112, 122 not out, 88 not out in successive innings. He finished the tournament with 779 runs at an average of 389.50.

Now, the 33-year-old wants to make another statement, that too in the biggest match in the domestic calendar – the Ranji Trophy final. Interestingly, Vidarbha’s opponent is Kerala, the State where Karun is originally from and the team that he had expressed an interest to play after the snub from Karnataka.

“I have made sure this season that I have been more consistent and whenever I have got the opportunity to score big, I have fortunately done that,” says Karun. “And another opportunity awaits me in this match and I hope to contribute to the team again.”

He believes his time with Northamptonshire in English county cricket has helped him greatly in what he calls the third innings of his career. “It has helped me understand my game more, to understand different ways of playing,” he says. “In England, you get to play 90 overs of swing or seam bowling on a day. I have taken that confidence to India.”