Karun Nair Ranji Trophy PtiImage Credit source: PTI
Karun Nair on Selection: The issue of selection in Indian cricket is always a subject of discussion and controversies. Often experts, media and fans give their opinions on the issues of selection of players in the team for any series. It rarely happens that a player directly questions the selectors regarding his selection. But these days some senior players are doing this. Mohammed Shami and Ajinkya Rahane have surrounded the selectors for their neglect. Now experienced batsman Karun Nair has also expressed his displeasure over being dropped after just one series.
Karun, who returned to his old team Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy 2025 season, scored an excellent century in the second match of the season. On the second day of the match against Goa, Nair played an inning of 174 runs and took his team out of a difficult situation. Nair had played many such innings in domestic cricket for the last two years, after which he recently got a chance in Team India. But he could not make such contribution at the time of need in the Test series on England tour.
‘Deserved better than this’
After the England Test series, Nair was not selected again for the series against West Indies, while his name did not appear in India A either. In such a situation, Nair expressed his displeasure and disappointment regarding this decision and said that he deserved more than a series. Speaking to the media after scoring a century against Goa, the Karnataka batsman said, “It is quite disappointing but I know I should have been there (in Team India), especially considering the last two years. People may have their own opinion but personally I feel I deserved better than this.”
Nair said that despite this neglect, he will continue his work of scoring runs. The 33-year-old batsman stressed, “The only thing I tell myself is that I should get more than one series. I can only tell myself this and cannot let other things enter my mind. I want to play for my country, nothing else. If that doesn’t happen, then the second goal is to win as many matches as possible for my team.”
Such was the performance in England
If we talk about Nair’s tour of England, this series was not good for him. Nair returned to the Indian team in 2017 after 8 years of playing his last Test series. But he could not do anything special in this series. He played 4 test matches but could score only one half-century and scored only 205 runs. This was when Shubman Gill scored 754 runs in the same series, while KL Rahul and even Ravindra Jadeja had scored more than 500 runs. Looking at the current situation, it is difficult to say whether he will get a chance against South Africa also.