Dilip Vengsarkar Baffled By Karun Nair's Exclusion From Test Team For West Indies Series

Former India skipper and ex-chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar has expressed his surprise over the way Karun Nair is being treated by the Indian team-management and the selectors.

Karun Nair was part of India’s original 18-man squad for the Tests in England. However, he warmed the bench throughout the series. What would have further made him disappointed was to see Hanuma Vihari, who was called up as a replacement during the series, leapfrog him and make a debut in the fifth Test.

On Saturday, he surprisingly failed to find a place in India’s Test squad for the home series against West Indies in October. And the latest snub has not only surprised Nair but also former cricket Dilip Vengsarkar.

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Vengsarkar called Nair’s case a baffling one as he questioned the batsman’s omission.

“The way Karun has been dropped is quite baffling, to say the least. He scored a triple century in Test against England at home not so long ago. Scoring a triple ton in any grade of cricket is an outstanding feat and not many have scored a triple ton in Test cricket, “ Vengsarkar told Times of India.

“However, since then, he has been out of the playing eleven. And even when he was in the squad, Vihari was flown in from India and was preferred to Karun for the last Test against England, which I feel is not only demeaning for the batsman but most unfair. Only the wise men of Indian cricket can explain why such a treatment is being meted out to a Test triple centurion. The entire case is quite intriguing,” he added.

Karun Nair

who has played six Tests, became India’s second triple-centurion – after Virender Sehwag – when he scored an unbeaten 303 against England in 2016. Since then, he has played only three more Tests and none since March 2017. Those three Tests were in the home series against Australia, and Nair had a high score of 26 in four innings. But it was a series where most of the Indian batsmen had struggled including skipper Virat Kohli.

Before the series against Australia, he did not make the playing XI in the one-off home Test against Bangladesh. After the Australia series, he failed to find a spot in the team for the home and away series against Sri Lanka. He was also overlooked for the Tests in South Africa

Nair made his much-awaited return to the Test team for the one-off Test against Afghanistan. However, he once again failed to break into the playing eleven. After that, he impressed for India A in England which helped him retain his place for the England series.