India vs England: No more chances left for Karun Nair? India's assistant coach clears
Back in 2022, Karun Nair made a public plea, asking for 'Cricket' to give him one more chance. The Karnataka batter announced his arrival to the Indian Test setup with a record-breaking triple century in 2016. However, as roaring an arrival, his departure came subtly but steadily. Debuting in 2016, Nair was phased out of the team by 2017. Nair, meanwhile, who made a move from Karnataka to Vidarbha in the domestic circuit, backed his credentials with consistently impressive knocks in first-class cricket. Nair's wish was finally heard when the batsman was named in the India squad for the India vs England series. However, three matches into the series, the batter is yet to come up with a defining knock.
Can Karun Nair keep his place in the Playing XI for the next India vs England Test?
The exits of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma from Test cricket laid the path for Karun Nair and the young Sai Sudharsan to earn a spot in the India squad. For the first India vs England Test at Headingley, the visitors played both Sudharsan and Nair in the Playing XI, sending the Vidarbha batsman at No. 6. However, the seasoned pick failed to stabilise India's batting order, as the tail emerged as one of the crucial reasons behind the 5-wicket loss in the opening Test. Nair's much-awaited comeback happened with a 4-ball duck.
In the next Test, Sai Sudharsan was dropped from the combination as Karun Nair was handed the No. 3 spot in the order. However, despite coming out in the top order, Nair failed to emulate his first-class form. While the guests won the second India vs England Test at Edgbaston to level the series, Nair's individual turn-up remained meek. So far in the series, the batter has managed just 131 runs across six innings at an average of 21.83.
The India vs England series stands at a crucial juncture. All is not lost for the visitors, but the 22-run loss in the Lord's Test has made the upcoming matches do-or-die fixtures. With two matches remaining and England boasting a 2-1 lead in the series, India would want nothing less than two victories from here on. Now, the question stands whether the management would like to move on from Karun Nair and call Sudharsan back into the combination for the Manchester Test. Nair opened the England Tour with a double ton for India A in the first unofficial Test. However, the main series is still awaiting a glimpse of Nair's true potential.
However, as the stakes propel significantly higher, it is up to see if India would wait further for Nair to showcase his true form. With his consistently substandard knocks in the three Tests so far, the calls are loud for India to move on from the batsman. However, in a recent interaction, India's assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, has backed the batter. Doeschate agreed that one of the main reasons behind India's loss at Headingley and Lord's is the batting collapse. However, the coach highlighted the performances of the batters individually.
"That might be counter-intuitive when you're 2-1 down in the series. But we feel like the guys have been excellent for large parts of the series. The repetition of losing lots of wickets in a very short space of time has obviously been the key feature of the two losses. Probably both times in Headingley and obviously overnight and first thing in the morning at Lord's, we feel cost us the game was losing six wickets for 40 again. But if you look at it individually, if you look at the run tally of all the batters, they're all batting nicely," Ryan ten Doeschate said.
In his analysis further, the Indian assistant coach named Karun Nair as he expressed confidence in the batter's rhythm. Despite the crucial insights, the former Netherlands player avoided spilling a concrete update on Nair's standing in the selection for the Manchester Test. The fraternity, meanwhile, have expressed the need of dropping Nair and calling in Sudharsan for the rest of the India vs England fixtures.
"Even someone like Karun, we feel his rhythm is good, his tempo is good. We want more runs from the three. But the message is mainly, let's really focus on what we've done well and tidy up the little things that have cost us results, essentially," Ten Doeschate said about Nair.
