On his comeback in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Karun Nair failed to make a significant mark in a series dominated by batters. Aadya Sharma wonders what's next for the 33-year-old in international cricket.
For the longest time, it felt comfortable to assume Karun Nair’s Test career ended at 26. Each passing year, the anniversary of his Test triple-century reminded us of the vagaries of the sport. He looked set to be the story of sad reflection. Until he turned it into redemption.
Now, four Tests into his comeback, the noise around his second coming has died down.
At the surface, the return to the team was quite middling. In a series that proved to be run-fest, offering flat surfaces more than occasionally, Karun went back home with an average of 25.62. Among all top-six batters to have a go more than once in the series, Karun’s average was the second-worst after Sai Sudharsan, the 23-year-old on his first Test assignment.
It was a series that saw a record-breaking 21 centuries, but Karun passed fifty just once in seven attempts. It started with a four-ball duck at Leeds, undone by a screamer by Ollie Pope at short cover. In the second innings, he was nabbed by Chris Woakes off his own bowling.
Next game, he was pushed up to No.3, staying there for three more innings, before going down again for the final Test. Aside from the first-innings duck, he spent at least 30 balls at the crease, getting his eye in, and went into double-digits on all those occasions. At Lord’s, he looked set for his first fifty in several years, when a Joe Root blinder in the slips cut short his knock. It wasn’t enough to save him a spot, and he was dropped for the fourth Test. It looked like another chance might not come.
But an injury to Rishabh Pant saw him land one more chance, and he finally crossed his long-awaited fifty, his first since the unbeaten 303 in 2016. That innings, no one else crossed 40, making it a commendable performance on a rain-hit day, and eventually proving to be an understated contributor to their win. Some of his usual issues remained, struggling a bit with the off-stump channel, and not getting his stride out as much.
In his final innings, Karun was clearly fighting to pull himself together after a first-ball hit to the glove. He never really looked comfortable, scratching his way to 17 off 32, before Gus Atkinson found the extra lift again, forcing him to glove it to the keeper. Karun walked back in pain – both physical and mental – with cameras later showing him re-enacting the hit on his finger, which might now sideline him for a brief while.
England series represents a missed opportunity for Karun
The tour had begun on a hugely positive note for him, scoring a double-century for India A against England Lions, even though it came with a rider. Having played two seasons of the County Championship, Karun was quite well-versed with the conditions in England, a challenge for most visiting India batters. The fact that batting-friendly conditions were amply provided, and the fact that he looted truckloads of runs back home in India, made for a promising case for him to be tried through the Test series.
On those counts, Karun would probably be ruing the missed chance to put up a standout score. For those who have seen him from close quarters, it’s been the real frustration with Karun all through. On his day, he times the ball as well as anyone, the cover drives crunch out of the bat like a shot out of gun. He’s got the appetite for long innings: aside from the Test triple, he’s got another first-class 300, as well as two double hundreds, the last of which came in June.
And yet, he’s known to mess up starts, looking scratchy and switched off on other days. The unpredictability is what made Karnataka drop him, until he found his calling with Vidarbha, and showed the kind of consistency never seen before in his career.
Where does Karun Nair go from here?
At 33, Karun isn’t a foregone conclusion. Yet, there’s a pack of youngsters eagerly waiting in his shadows, ready to take advantage of every misstep. For starters, the opening position is now locked, Shubman Gill slots in at four, and Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja get a spot each. For three, India have the choice of giving a much-younger Sai Sudharsan a long rope. Further down, when playing at home, Karun will have to jostle with a host of all-round options.
There’s Sarfaraz Khan, who’s done little wrong with the chances given so far, as well as Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar, both of whom are capped in Tests, but trailing in the race due to injury. Recent reports suggest that Shreyas Iyer, too, might be brought back into the Test mix. Abhimanyu Easwaran spent a whole tour waiting for his chance.
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It might not be fair to set him aside just yet. India’s next two Test assignments are at home, where Karun’s recent record makes a solid case. Objectively, the Indian management would want to back him a bit more too: over the last two years, they’ve put increased impetus on domestic performances. On that front, Karun is the perfect exponent of hard work deserving rewards.
In the 2024/25 Ranji Trophy, he was the fourth-highest run-scorer, averaging 54 and scoring four centuries in Vidarbha’s title-winning run.
The previous season, he scored 690 runs at 41, two centuries included. It was the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the one-day competition, where Karun was batting on a different plane: he finished with an average of 390, hitting five centuries in nine innings. All of this was less than a year ago.
Given India’s massively deep trenches of talent, longer ropes aren’t afforded as easily. It’s easy to slip out of the race and never be found again. To Karun’s credit, he’s managed to make the impossible climb once already. For all that grind, he probably deserves a little more space to find his groove.
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