Karun Nair went six months without playing to becoming one of the top performers of the Vijay Hazare Trophy — now selectors are interested | Cricket News
Scrolling through X (formerly Twitter), one could hear the plea Karun Nair made back in December 2022.“Dear cricket, give me one more chance,” he would tweet with a fingers crossed emoji accompanying the words. In the middle of a domestic season back then, it seemed India’s cricketing eco-system, except for quizzers, had forgotten one of only two triple-centurions in their Test hory. Even his state team, Karnataka, had moved on from Karun, who spent the most of 2022-23 season just taking throw downs and facing amateur net bowlers. Cut to January 2025, and Karun is the story of the ongoing domestic season, as his fourth successive century and fifth of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy put Vidarbha into the semi-finals on Sunday.
As India enter a transitional phase, with seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggling in Tests, Karun happens to be a player that the selectors are watching with keen interest. “It was an emotional moment when I put that tweet,” Karun tells The Indian Express shortly after his unbeaten 122 and an unbroken 200-run stand with Dhruv Shorey (118 n.o) saw Vidarbha overcome Rajasthan 9 wickets at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara.
“For six-seven months, when I didn’t play any cricket, all I did was travel three hours a day just to have a net session. I had no other option. I wasn’t considered for any format and I was really emotional at that point of time. I had to move on and work on myself. Moving on wasn’t easy, I needed a couple of months to get over it and then start practicing my skills and mindset. I would say, I was just preparing myself so that when I got another opportunity, I was not going to give anyone an excuse to drop me. For that, I needed to score runs and be consent. So I just worked hard to get that back in my game,” Karun says.
🚨 Record Alert 🚨
Vidarbha captain Karun Nair has now hit the joint-most 💯s in a season in the #VijayHazareTrophy, equalling N Jagadeesan’s (2022-23) tally of 5 centuries! 😮
📽️ Relive his fantastic knock of 122* vs Rajasthan in quarterfinal 🔥@IDFCFIRSTBank | @karun126 pic.twitter.com/AvLrUyBgKv
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) January 12, 2025
In the days and the months that followed, Karun would indulge in soul searching and most of it would happen at the Just Cricket academy in Bengaluru. With his coach Vijay Madyalkar his side, Karun would get down to batting hours together with the sole focus being a return to first-class cricket. Techniques weren’t changed, nor were there any tweaks. What Karun would focus on was batting for long periods. It isn’t new to him. In his early days, that’s what set him apart and earned him a national call-up.
Now he had to start doing it all over again, but first up, he had to find a team and former India international and current BCCI GM Abey Kuruvilla came to his rescue. “He was my selector during my U-19 days, and I had the freedom to walk up to him and say, ‘Sir, I’m looking for a team to play, could you please help’ and that’s how I moved to Vidarbha. I’m really thankful for him and for the Vidarbha association because I was just looking for an opportunity and when it came, I just wanted to grab it,” Karun says.
In the 2023-24 Ranji season, Karun would tally 690 runs on the back of having a strong outing for Northamptonshire in his maiden County appearance. Though he played only three matches and had scores of 78, 150 and 21, his hunger had stood out and in 2024, returning to County, he scored a double century as well. Having already hit a ton this Ranji season, it is during the Vijay Hazare Trophy that Karun has again made heads turn. He started with an unbeaten 112 and has followed it up with scores of 44*, 163*, 111*, 112 and 122. Before being dismissed for 112 against Uttar Pradesh, he made a world record for most runs in L A cricket between dismissals with 542 runs.
“I’m not sure how I do this,” Karun says in response to his old habit of scoring big runs at a stretch. “I think most of it is down to taking it one game at a time and moving on from the previous innings. Right through my career, I’ve been fortunate that way. And in the time I missed playing cricket, I was just waiting to bat and that’s what I’m doing now. When you sit out for six-seven months, you realise what you are missing and with me, it was just batting. It is for sure one of my good phases,” Karun says.
Dear cricket, give me one more chance.🤞🏽
— Karun Nair (@karun126) December 10, 2022
Speaking to his former state teammate Robin Uthappa recently, Karun said he has been visualising a comeback to the national fold. With the Test team in transition, Karun is back on the selectors’ radar, especially because of his all-round game, and how well he can play spin. “Everyone wants to play for their country and I’m no different. I would love to play Test matches again and for that, I know I have to keep doing my job again and again,” Karun says.
During the 2018 tour of England, his omission from the Oval Test – where Hanuma Vihari flew from India and made his Test debut – surprised one and all. With India set to travel to England this June, a return to the Test fold on the back of County experience and runs in the domestic circuit would complete an incredible turnaround for triple-centurion.
Brief scores: Rajasthan 291/8 in 50 overs (Kartik Sharma 62, Shubham Garhwal 59, Deepak Hooda 45; Yash Thakur 4/39) lost to Vidarbha 292/1 in 43.3 overs (Karun Nair 122 n.o, Dhruv Shorey 118 n.o).
Gujarat 196 in 45.2 overs (Hemang Patel 54; Nishant Sindhu 3/40) lost Haryana 201/8 in 44.2 overs (Himanshu Rana 66; Ravi Bishnoi 4/46).
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