In this post-Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma era, one of the biggest draws for Indian Test cricket fans has been Karun Nair's return. Eight years have passed since Nair's previous appearance for India in the format.
Nair's recovery was further validated when he scored a double century for India A against the England Lions in Canterbury during their unofficial Test preparation.
Nair is anticipated to be a member of a new-look top order in the forthcoming Test series in England, which starts on Friday in Leeds. Rohit and Kohli recently announced their retirements from the format.
“My first thought when I woke up was, I want to play test cricket; I want to play for India again. That's probably what kept me going and kept me hungry. The driving force: go to training every day, go to practice every day. I had a goal of wanting to play test cricket again, and I was always looking at playing test cricket, and every day, every morning, I used to wake up thinking, What should I do to reach that goal?” Nair told BCCI on the eve of the first Test.
Karun Nair has played 6 Tests for India, scoring 374 runs in 7 innings. Out of these, 303* came against England in 2016, which made him only the second Indian after Virender Sehwag to score a Test triple ton.
“Never losing that belief and having that target to reach was something that helped me. Feeling honored to wear this jersey and honored to be representing my country. When I saw everyone for the first time, that's when I really, you know, felt it that I'm finally on the team. Till then, it was like a wait for me to kind of start feeling like I've made it again. It's been a few years. I used to always watch everyone on TV, and now to be back again in this dressing room feels amazing. You know, getting that first session under the belt was a relief; I was grateful to get that opportunity. Life has come full circle because I went out of the team in England, and now I'm coming back into the team in England. So it's been a while, and I'm trying to embrace that,” he added.
Nair also revealed that he had played with KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna since he was a child, and he was happy to be sharing the changing room with them.
“I try to keep it very simple, always think about the positive, have certain goals in mind, visualize things, and have real belief in what you visualize. Playing alongside Rahul and Prasidh is also a very comforting factor. We've played cricket for so many years since probably we were young kids and grew up together,” he said.
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Nair’s return comes after he registered 863 runs at 53.93 for Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy-winning team. Before that, he smacked five tons in eight innings at an average of 389.50 at the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
