The 33-year-old batter has featured in nine Tests, gathering 505 runs at an average of 42.08.
Apart from India losing the third Test match against England at Lord’s, there’s continuous chatter on the inclusion of Karun Nair. The veteran batter who made a comeback to the Indian Test team after eight long years has not been able to make an impact with the bat across three Test matches. On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan has not been included after his Test debut in the Leeds Test. Danish Kaneria, in an exclusive conversation with CricXtasy, shared his expert opinion on this subject.
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The Tamil Nadu-based player previously batted in the same No.3 position that Nair occupies now. He got out for a golden duck in the first innings and then made 30 runs in the second innings. He was later dropped from the second and third Test matches. On the other hand, Nair, who has only scored 131 runs, hasn’t missed a game so far. His highest score stands at 40 runs across three Test matches.
But, former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria feels the right-handed batter should play the remaining two Tests too. As of now, Nair has gotten a few good starts, but then he failed to capitalise on them.
“Karun Nair came, scored a triple century, and then was dropped. He made a comeback after eight long years after having scored loads of runs in domestic cricket. Talking about the ongoing series, he got a good start, but time and again, he failed to convert it into a big score. I am telling you this on record, Nair will play all the Test matches and a big score is loading from his willow, be it in the next or in the last game”, Danish told CricXtasy.
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It was back in 2016 when Nair made his Test debut for India during the home series against England. He wreaked havoc after smashing an unbeaten 303 runs against England in Chennai in 2016. Even after scoring a triple century, he was dropped from the Indian team. The 33-year-old batter has featured in nine Test matches in his career so far. He has gathered 505 runs at an average of 42.08.
Since Nair has not been scoring runs in the ongoing five-match Test series against England, it would be interesting to see if he gets a chance to play in the upcoming matches.
The Indian team is gearing up for redemption as they will face England in the fourth Test match in Manchester from July 23.
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