Karun Nair

Karun Nair is one of the talented batsmen from the Karnataka circuit. Uncannily, the stylish batsman will be remembered for getting dropped from the national side soon after scoring a triple-century in Tests. Over the years, Nair has been a prolific batsman for his state side in the Ranji Trophy and domestic limited-overs formats but has not been able to find his luck in the international arena.

Nair has a sound technique and temperament to succeed at the highest level and the triple century against England is a testament to that but he has not been able to unlock his full potential yet. 

The Jodhpur-born made his domestic debut for Karnataka in the 2013-14 season stockpiling thousands of runs in Karnataka’s success. Nair made his international debut in an ODI against Zimbabwe in June 2016, but could only field in his first (and only) ODI assignment. The Karnataka batsman again got an opportunity to play India, this time in the longest format against England in November at Mohali 2016. 

However, Nair’s debut Test outing ended with an unfortunate run-out. Nair scored a mind-boggling 303* off 381 balls in his very third Test. After becoming the second-only triple-centurion for India, Nair had to miss out from the playing XI to make a place for Ajinkya Rahane. He again came into the Test team but was dropped from the playing XI after a string of low scores against Australia in 2016 and has not been able to come back since. 

Although, a young Karun Nair came into the Indian Premier League in 2013 by Bangalore, but could stamp his class there. In 2014, Karun was picked by Rajasthan Royals and scored 330 runs at a strike rate in excess of 140. He could not build on the gains made in the last season and had an average season in IPL 2015.

When Rajasthan Royals were banned by the BCCI for IPL 2016 and 2017, Karun was picked by the Delhi team where he bounced back and scored heavily in two consecutive seasons. He was also trusted to lead the side in absence of Zaheer Khan during the season.

The KXIP finally picked him in the IPL 2018 season and the Karnataka batsman was been with them for three editions. He has not had a very successful run-in with the Punjab team and played four games altogether in his last two stints with Punjab. 

In February 2021, the promising but out-of-form was picked by Kolkata Knight Riders for the 14th edition of the IPL in the second-round picks in the auctions. Karun Nair might not have the best of times in the altered 2020-21 domestic cycle for Karnataka, but he is too good of a batsman to make a season of his own. 

(As of March 2021)