Karun Nair is just the third player in the history of Test cricket to convert his first Test century into a triple century. He became the second Indian after Virender Sehwag to score a triple century in his third Test. The 33-year-old cricketer made his Test debut on 26 November 2016 against England in Mohali, Punjab. However, he could not retain his place in the national team for long. He played his last Test match against Australia in Dharamsala in 2017. After that, he was dropped from the team. However, he has been trying to make a comeback to the national team since then.
He has been consistently performing well in the domestic cricket competition Ranji Trophy, which is considered as an excuse to return to the national team. He has done justice to his abilities by playing well in the Ranji Trophy. So far in the 2024-25 season of the Ranji Trophy, he has scored 6 centuries and 1 half-century. He remained unbeaten a total of four times and scored a total of 925 runs. Even then, he did not find a place in the Indian team. The selectors did not give him a chance in the recently concluded one-day series against England and in the Indian team formed for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy.
Now the question is if the performance in domestic cricket is the only excuse for being a member of the Indian team, then the first name to be considered is Karun Nair. But that did not happen. He did not come to the mind of the national selectors. Now the question directly arises about the qualifications of the selectors. How else will a cricketer prove himself to the BCCI and its selectors!! Many promising cricketers, both past and present, have been lost only due to the lack of proper foresight of the indecisive BCCI.
Karun Nair has scored a total of 374 runs in 6 Test matches so far. His batting average is 62.33. He has played a total of 2 One-Day Internationals and has scored 46 runs and his batting average is 23.00. In first-class cricket, Karun Nair has scored a total of 7939 runs in 112 matches with 22 centuries and 35 half-centuries. His batting average in first-class cricket is 48.70.
Even if it is not in the ODI and T20 formats, the BCCI should include Karun Nair in the Indian Test cricket team for the next Test series without further delay.

Writer: Anindya Das is an Associate Editor of The Views Express & an expert in Sports Affairs

(Note: The OPINION section of The Views Express presents the articles or columns by individuals, where the writer exclusively writes on the matters of History, International Relations, Politics, Economy, Literature etc. on the basis of his or her opinion, knowledge, research & observations on the subject matter)

Photo: File Image of Karun Nair