India will begin the series with the Test in Leeds on June 20
India head coach Gautam Gambhir more or less confirmed that Vidarbha and former Karnataka batter Karun Nair will be given good amount of playing time in the upcoming Test series against England.
Nair was selected for the national team after an eight-year exile during which he had shifted from his boyhood domestic side Karnataka to Vidarbha in 2022 and powered them to the 2024-25 Ranji Trophy title. Nair starred with 863 runs from 16 innings which included four hundreds and two fifties.
Nair was back in headlines with his jaw-dropping performances in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy as he averaged an incredible 389 after scoring 779 runs from eight innings which included five unbeaten hundreds and an unbeaten fifty.
Nair, who was also picked for the India ‘A’ shadow tour, continued his stunning red-ball form against England Lions by scoring 204 in the first innings in Canterbury.
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When asked about Nair’s comeback, Gambhir said the management will give the 33-year-old ample amount of opportunities due to his domestic performances.
“I think playing domestic cricket is extremely important. If you ask anyone who has played domestic cricket, they’ll tell you. When someone has scored heaps of runs like him, we won’t judge them by one or two Tests. We will give him a long leash of opportunities,” Gambhir said in the press conference before the Indian team left for England on Thursday.
Nair’s place in the team has been helped by the sudden retirements of former captains Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli last month.
Rohit, who was the designated captain when he retired, announced his decision after a terrible run of form with the bat which led to him sitting out of the fifth and final Test against Australia in Sydney.
Kohli brought an end to his storied Test career after playing 123 Tests and stopping 270 runs short of 10,000 runs. Kohli retired as India’s most successful Test captain having won 48 of the 60 Tests he led.
Nair is most likely to bat in Kohli’s batting position at No. 4 with Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul being the likely opening pair and captain Gill walking in at No.3.
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