Karun Nair makes massive comeback amid India vs West Indies Tests
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Just a few days after being snubbed from the Indian side for the West Indies tour, Karun Nair returned to Karnataka's Ranji Trophy squad after two seasons with Vidarbha. Despite his recent international setback, domestically, he remains a crucial player in the longest format of the game.
The 31-year-old Indian cricketer, well known for his unbeaten triple century against England back in 2017, recently made his comeback in the longest format of the game for India. Nair made his much-awaited return in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He played in four of the five games in England.
Karun Nair is back to where it began
In a notable homecoming, Karun Nair has been named in Karnataka's Ranji Trophy squad for their opening match against Saurashtra, starting on the 15th of October. This would mark his return to Karnataka, ending an absence of two long seasons.
After some unconvincing form, he moved to Vidarbha last season, where he played a key role in helping the team lift their Ranji Trophy title. His strong domestic form earned him India call-ups, as he excelled with the bat not only in the red-ball tournament but also in the white-ball Vijay Hazare Trophy.
The move to appear for Karnataka comes just weeks after India's chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, effectively drew the curtain on Nair's Test career.
Ajit Agarkar ruled out any possibility of Karun Nair's return
Karun Nair, who was handed several opportunities to score against the opposition against whom he had scored the stunning triple-century, failed to be promising with the bat, as he ended up scoring the fewest runs as a batter in the series, with just one half-century.
Citing his poor form, the BCCI Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar felt that it was enough not to give him another chance in the home series against the West Indies. Especially, the availability of a wider pool of younger cricketers led to the development.
“We expected more from Karun Nair in England. It cannot be about just one innings. Devdutt Padikkal offers more options to us. We want to give at least 15-20 chances to every player but it is not possible every time,” Agarkar said at a recent press conference, effectively ending any realistic hopes of a Test comeback for Nair.
Anvay Dravid to lead Karnataka in the Vinoo Mankad Trophy
Karnataka is known to have produced several greats of the game; meanwhile, the legacy that has been crafted over the years will be taken forward by Anvay Dravid, the son of Indian legend and former head coach Rahul Dravid.
Anvay Dravid has been named as the captain of the state's squad for the Vinoo Mankad trophy, which will be held in Dehradun and is scheduled to start on the 9th of October. The young man was Karnataka's top-scoring batter in the previous season and is now all set to lead a promising group of U19 cricketers.
Karnataka U-19 Squad for Vinoo Mankad Trophy: Anvay Dravid (captain, wk), Nitish Arya, Adarsh D Urs, S Manikanth (vice-captain), Kuldeep Singh Purohit, Rathan BR, Vaibhav Sharma, KA Tejas, Praneeth Shetty, Vasav Venkatesh, Akshath Prabhakar, C Vaibhav, Atharv Malviya, Sunny Kanchi, and Rehan Mohammed (wk).
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India National Cricket Team Karnataka Ranji Trophy team Karnataka State Cricket Association Karun Nair Ranji Trophy India vs West Indies
