Revealed: Why Karun Nair has been given chance for 3rd Test ahead of Sai Sudharsan?
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India and England had a long gap before the onset of the second Test at Edgbaston. India levelled the series with a dominating performance at Edgbaston, when the visitors won by a huge margin of 336 runs.
However, now as India advances to the home of cricket at the iconic stadium of Lord's, they are barely left with training hours before the historic Test.
India arrived at Lord's and opted for an optional session for their players on Tuesday. Many big names from the Edgbaston test were marked absent from the nets, as skipper Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and the pace bowling duo were not seen in the session.
But if there was one player who was seen ripping something useful from the nets, it was Indian batter Karun Nair. Nair has been brought back into the Indian side after a gap of 8 years, and surely he would not want to let it go this time.
Karun Nair's intense training session before the Lord's Test
Karun Nair was among the first of the Indian batters who went through a comprehensive and intense session at Lord's, despite no other player taking it that seriously, since it was just an optional session.
Beginning with throwdowns, Karun Nair next played against the pacers in the nets, followed by spin, and then again by throwdowns. He showed full intent to revive form before the crucial Test, as he batted for a longer session than the designated time, as per RevSportz.
In his first session, Karun Nair was seen practising the orthodox shots for a Test cricketer, trying to strengthen his defence and then work on the traditional drives that he played.
He next showed perseverance against the best delivery under English conditions, that is, the ball swirling outside the off-stump. He faced the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, and Arshdeep Singh. He looked assured and tackled it wisely, only dismissed once by Bumrah's in-dipping delivery.
Sai Sudharsan or Karun Nair? Debate ends at the Lord's
Ever since the first Test, this doubt has taken over the Indian fans about who will feature in India's playing 11 among the two seasoned batters, Karun Nair or Sai Sudharsan.
India went on to feature either of these players, Sai Sudharsan, at no. 3, and Karun Nair at no. 6; however, neither of these two batters impressed with their performance. As a result of this, young Sudharsan was dropped in the next fixture at Edgbaston.
Nair batted in the Edgbaston Test but once again could not convert his decent starts. However, now observing his intense sessions at Lord's, it seems Karun is ahead of others in retaining his place for the third Test.
India head to Lord's with only one change: Jasprit Bumrah is back
Much was expected after a historic win; India would stick to their strategies from the Lord's Test. They have named three pacers again, with Jasprit Bumrah returning to the playing 11, replacing Prasidh Krishna, who was economical at Edgbaston.
No other changes have been made; India restored their full squad and now will bowl first at Lord's.
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Tagged:
India National Cricket Team England National Cricket Team Karun Nair Sai Sudharsan Abhimanyu Easwaran India vs England IND vs ENG
