Karun Nair made a return to the Indian Test team after seven years during the recently concluded five-match series against England. Despite a strong domestic showing that earned him the recall, Nair was unable to replicate the same success at the international level.
In the series, the right-handed batter scored 205 runs in eight innings at an average of 25.62, batting in various positions without being able to cement his place. Karun Nair expressed his frustration over not converting promising starts into significant scores.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅,” 𝑵𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒂 𝑻𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.
Karun Nair: Working on Converting Starts
Understanding the need to convert starts into big innings, Nair revealed that he has begun working on this aspect with guidance from coaches and close peers.
“𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 30𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 40𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒐𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒉𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕. 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕, 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑰 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒕,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅.
Staying Focused on the Present
Looking ahead, India will host the West Indies in October, followed by a series against South Africa in November. Additionally, India A will face Australia A and South Africa A, where Nair could again be considered. However, the 33-year-old emphasises taking things step by step.
“𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒇𝒂𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏, 𝒘𝒆’𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒔. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 — 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔,” 𝑵𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Karun Nair also expressed confidence in the young Indian squad, led by Shubman Gill, as they continue their campaign in the World Test Championship (WTC). India concluded their series in the UK with a 2-2 draw against England.
“𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕. 𝑾𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎, 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒅𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒚 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒅𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒚𝒄𝒍𝒆,” 𝑵𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅.
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