Karun Nair was the hot topic in cricket in December, 2016. In the fifth and final Test against England in Chennai, the then Karnataka batter scored an unbeaten 303. It was his debut Test series and his first 100-plus score in international cricket was a triple hundred. He had played two ODIs in the same year and two more Tests later, he was dropped from the side never to be seen again.
Despite the abrupt halt to his international aspirations, the batter kept playing regular cricket for Karnataka which came to an end in 2022. Heartbroken, Nair put out an emotional tweet saying “Dear Cricket, give me one more chance?”
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At one point of time, he had to plead to find a team to play. The cricketing gods have smiled on the 33-year-old. He is now playing for Vidarbha, playing the most crucial role in their run into the Vijay Hazare Trophy semifinals with 664 runs from just six innings at a staggering average of 664 with five hundreds to his name.
Karun Nair finds a lifeline after Karnataka snub
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Nair elaborated on how things turned around for him after being dropped from Karnataka.
“I went to play this DY Patil tournament in Mumbai, which I am really thankful for, for Mansoor Ali Khan sir and Bharat Chipli. I spoke to them about giving me an opportunity to play for Canara Bank. I requested that they let me join their team as a guest player, and then during the tournament, I met Abey Kuruvilla over there, who I had known from the under-19 days when he was a selector,” Nair said.
“And I went straight up to him and asked him, ‘Sir, can you please find me a team?’. I want to play First-Class cricket. That’s how Vidarbha came about,” he added.
Dream to play for India still burning bright
Nair also mentioned his brief stint with England county side Northamptonshire where he scored a fifty and hundred in three innings.
“The opportunity came in 2023 just out of the blue, to go and play 3 matches for Northamptonshire. The last three games of the season, and that too against the best 3 teams of the County Championship Division 1. I just took that opportunity with both hands,” Nair said.
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Nair, who had last toured England in 2018 with India A, recalled the swathe of emotions that hit him while standing in the balcony of The Oval after spending five hours at the crease for his 150.
“I just wanted to stay, learn how to play, and experience those conditions. That’s what happened, and to score a 100 at the Oval was life coming full circle for me to stand on that balcony. A few years ago, I stood in 2018 and thought, ‘What has just happened and then to go back there in 2023 and score a 100 after 5 years standing on the same balcony’. I think the feelings were, you know, overwhelming,” Nair said.
Nair still hasn’t given up his dream to play for India and remains optimistic that he can better the feeling of scoring that triple ton in Chennai all those years ago. He will be hoping to make his case for a comeback stronger with a good performance for Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025.
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