Karun Nair to join new team after going unsold at IPL 2024 auction

Indian batsman Karun Nair will be returning to county team Northamptonshire in April this year. Nair went unsold in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction and will be available to give his services to his county team. Nair was brought into the team by the Northamptonshire management last season, as a part of the failed bid to avoid relegations from the Division 2.

However, Karun Nair played just three matches for Northamptonshire last season, but he was able to play innings of 78, 150, and 21 respectively. As per Northamptonshire head coach John Sadler, Karun Nair was the last target for his team.

Karun Nair to return for Northamptonshire in County Championships 2024

In a press release by Northamptonshire, John Sadler heaped praise for Karun Nair and stated that his calmness, temperament, and hunger to score runs last season was superb. Sadler further stated that the team was delighted to get him on board and he will prove to be a great asset for the team.

John Sadler said, “Not only did he score some incredible runs for us, his calmness, his temperament, and his hunger for more runs was superb, We are delighted to get him on board with us again and I’m sure he will be a super asset for us again this season.”

Karun Nair’s availability for the County Championships was not confirmed in the middle of December as he was expected to be picked by a team in the Indian Premier League 2024 auction. Nair is committed to playing the first seven matches for the Northamptonshire after being unsold in the IPL 2024 auction.

Karun Nair said after his second stint for Northamptonshire, “I’m thrilled to be returning to Northamptonshire for another stint of County Championship cricket. Our aim is to win games and get promoted and I’m excited to get stuck in with the bat and help the team secure victories. I would like to thank the coach and captain for believing in me and giving me this wonderful opportunity. I was really happy with my form last season and hopefully I can get going right away and put big runs on the board.”

Karun Nair will be replaced by his Indian teammate Prithvi Shaw, who agreed to return in the second half of the English summer. Shaw had a successful stint for Northants last year and missed the season due to his ACL injury.

Karun Nair has played a total of 6 Test matches for India and has scored 374 runs at an average of 62.33. However, of those, 303 have come in one match, which is Nair’s highest Test career score. Nair was supposed to be one of the permanent members of the Indian Test team, however, the batter was excluded from the team due to his poor form.

Karun Nair played his last Test match in the year 2017 against Australia in 2017. Due to the rising competition in the Indian cricket team, Nair was not able to find his place back in the Indian team and now is also out of the consideration of the selectors.