BCCI selector officially shuts door on Karun Nair’s Test career, replacement named for Manchester Test

Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selector Devang Gandhi believes that the time has come to move on from Karun Nair after his repeated failures in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025.

Gandhi feels that the Indian team management should give a chance to the young batting sensation Sai Sudharsan at the No.3 spot instead of Karun Nair for the fourth Test match against England in Manchester.

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Karun Nair fails in six consecutive innings against India

Nair has delivered a string of underwhelming performances in the ongoing five-match Test series in England after staging a comeback to the side after eight years.

The 33-year-old has not been able to make the most of the second chance that cricket has given him, and he is on the verge of getting axed from the playing XI.

Despite getting good batting tracks in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, Nair has failed to score a single half-century. In six innings, he has amassed just 131 runs at an average of 21.83 and a best score of 40.

He batted at the No.6 spot in the first Test, but was then promoted to the No.3 position for the next two matches. At Headingley in Leeds, he registered the scores of 0 & 20 and followed it up with yet another disappointing outing at Edgbaston in Birmingham, returning with scores of 31 & 26.

In the Lord's Test match, Nair disappointed with a 40-run knock in the first innings and a 14-run knock in the second innings. With India also losing the match at Lord's in London, there is a high chance that Nair might be dropped from the side.

He is working hard but results aren't coming - Devang Gandhi

Meanwhile, former India selector and Delhi Ranji coach Devang Gandhi has highlighted Karun Nair's technical issue and said that the batter has not been getting results despite working hard.

"Obviously, he is doing the hard yards before there is a lapse of concentration. Save first innings at Leeds, he has played minimum of 30 deliveries in each innings which means he is working hard but results aren't coming," Gandhi told PTI.

"In case of Karun, he has a trigger movement which is trifle late compared to someone like Shubman Gill. If you watch closely, Karun's front-foot is still in the air at the point of release for a pace bowler. Now if the front-foot is in the air at that point it means if he wants to go on backfoot, he is being late.

"Now, you can handle a Woakes at his pace but Archer, Carse or even Stokes who can slip in a heavy delivery here and there can be difficult to handle," Gandhi explained.

You have to look at the future - Sai Sudharsan named Karun Nair's replacement

Devang Gandhi, as well as the former India National Cricket Team wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta, further said that Gautam Gambhir should bring Sai Sudharsan into the playing XI for the remainder of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy and drop Karun Nair.

"You have to look at the future. Karun is nearing 34 and Sai is 21. If you have already decided that you would invest in Sai then allow him to gain experience of playing Tests in England. He is a work in progress and will only get better," Dasgupta said.

Even though Nair has not looked 'bad' by any sort during his six innings on the English soil, the lack of big scores could contribute to his axing.