Former India batter Aakash Chopra reckons Karun Nair will now find it difficult to regain his spot in the playing XI after being dropped from the lineup for the Manchester Test against England.
A day prior to the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, India captain Shubman Gill said the management is backing the batter and they are confident of him turning the tide around. However, at the toss, it was confirmed that the right-handed batter is no longer a part of the playing XI as he was replaced by Sai Sudharsan.
Karun Nair, who was making a comeback into the Test side after eight years, failed to set the stage on fire in the first three Tests. In the series opener in Headingley, the 33-year-old batted at No.6 while Sudharsan played at No.3.
However, Sai Sudharsan was then dropped for the next two Tests, and Karun was elevated to No.3. The senior batter, who regained his place in the Test side after strong performances for Vidarbha, failed to grab the opportunity with both hands, eventually leading to his ouster from the team.
“Sai Sudharsan came in for Karun Nair. Your mind goes back to the press conference on the eve of the Manchester Test where Gill spoke very fondly about Nair, saying the batter didn’t get the right slot to bat in the series opener and whatever, whatever,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“He also said that he has faith in Karun Nair to turn it around. Comes the Test match, he gets dropped,” he added.
‘How will he regain his spot?’
In the six innings he batted in, Karun registered scores 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14, aggregating 131 runs. He was the only top-order batter for India to have not scored a half-century in the first three Tests.
Chopra believes several batters are waiting in the wings, so Karun Nair’s road ahead is tricky.
“Karun Nair’s road ahead gets difficult. If he had gotten another game, it would have been good. I think he could have been given another game. But since it has not been given, I think this is it. For the time being, how can you bring him into the playing XI?” said Chopa.
“Abhimanyu Easwaran is already in the line. Sarfaraz Khan has not done any wrong. Shreyas Iyer will also be in the scheme of things. Karun Nair had a good opportunity, but he failed to capitalise. His career says ‘never say never,’ but it will be difficult for him as it will not be straightforward,” he added.
Sai Sudharsan who replaced Karun in the playing XI, scored 61 runs in the first-innings of the Manchester Test, where India concluded Day 1 at 264/4.