Karun Nair was the toast of the town in 2016 when he made history by scoring an unbeaten 303 in his third Test, becoming only the second Indian to register a Triple century in the format. But his technique has been completely exposed after his back-to-back failures in the current England series.
Unfortunately, the fairytale for Karun Nair ended with that solitary score of 300 in 2016, and the Karnataka player suddenly lost his mojo, resulting in some very average performances in the following three tests he was part of, which led to him losing his place in the side.
Any chance of a comeback was also completely put to rest with Karun Nair struggling in domestic cricket too since then.
Karun Nair’s comeback
Since 2023, Karun Nair has regained his lost form after 7 years. Two great back-to-back domestic seasons and a successful English county stint helped Karun be considered again for selections in the Indian Test squad, especially with two Test spots now vacant following the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
In the 2024-25 season, he scored 863 runs from nine matches, averaging 54 with four hundreds, and scored 779 runs from seven matches in the Vijay Hazare Trophy one-day tournament with five centuries.
With his stint for Northants in 2023, Nair scored 249 runs in three matches at an average of 83, and 487 runs in the 2024 season. Scores in English conditions allowed Nair to be considered for the upcoming England Series in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Karun made his comeback into the Test team after a gap of 8 years, 84 days when he was named in the India Playing eleven for the 1st Test against England on June 20, 2025, at Headingley.
First Test – Karun Nair disappoints
Nair’s return did not go as per the script. He scored a duck (0 runs) in the first innings and 20 runs in the second.
Karun Nair failed to make the most of his chance in batting-friendly conditions in Leeds that saw 5 centuries being made by Indian batsmen.
Despite doing well in the practice matches before the Test, Nair’s poor performance in both innings would have come as a major disappointment for the Karnataka player. The manner of his dismissals was also disappointing.
India ended up losing the first test match in Leeds. India did not score enough in the second innings and were unable to take wickets on the last day of the Test match.
Second Test – Karun misses yet again on a batting pitch
Karun Nair was given another chance to redeem himself and got selected for the second test in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Nair was promoted to bat at No.3 in place of the dropped Sai Sudharsan. But here, too, things didn’t improve.
Again, the pitches were favouring the batsman and saw India making 587 runs in the first innings. India was playing without Bumrah, and the batsmen were expected to make some extra runs.
During India’s first innings of the second Test match at Edgbaston, Nair scored only 31 runs. The 33-year-old Indian batter scored 26 runs in the second inning.
Karun Nair lost a big chance to redeem himself in the 4 innings so far, that too in batting-friendly conditions. More worrying is the fact that on pitches where India scored five centuries and a double hundred, Nair hasn’t gone past fifty even once.
Karun Nair – Consistently Inconsistent
Karun is still searching for rhythm and hasn’t registered a single fifty since hitting 303* against England in Chennai.
His scores in Test matches are
- Innings 1: DNB (Did Not Bat)
- Innings 2: 4 (against Australia)
- Innings 3: 23 (against Australia)
- Innings 4: 26 (against Australia)
- Innings 5: 0 (against Australia)
- Innings 6: 303* (against England)
- Innings 7: 5 (against Australia)
- Innings 8: 23 (against Australia)
- Innings 9: 26(against Australia)
- Innings 10: 0 (against Australia)
- Innings 11: 0 (against England)
- Innings 12: 20 (against England)
- Innings 13: 31 (against England)
- Innings 14: 26 (against England)
Karun Nair has no half-centuries except for his 303*, which now looks like an aberration to say the least.
Karun Nair‘s failure to score even a single fifty in four innings can place him in a do-or-die situation. With youngsters waiting to get an opportunity, time is running out for the 33-year-old.
Following Karun Nair’s poor form in the ongoing series, Captain Shubman Gill and Coach Gautam Gambhir may give Karun one last opportunity in the Lord’s Test match. The third Test may well decide on Karun Nair’s Test career.
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