Karun Nair, who made a comeback into the Indian Test fold after eight long years on the tour of England, was sidelined from the team in the very next home series against West Indies.

During the squad announcement presser, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar categorically stated that Nair failed to meet the team management’s expectations on the tour of England. The 33-year-old played four Tests of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, amassing 205 runs with just one half-century to his name.

With the Indian team management and selectors known to give players enough backing, it was expected that Nair would get one more series to prove his mettle but that wasn’t the case as he was dropped and Devdutt Padikkal was given the nod ahead.

Furthermore, the right-hander was not picked in the India A squad for the two four-day matches against South Africa A, a call probably suggesting that the selectors have decided to move on from him.

Karun’s exclusion from the Test squad after just one series raised many eyebrows, and now veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane has also questioned his non-selection.

“We have seen it in the last two-three series; Karun Nair performed consistently in domestic cricket, won matches and was rewarded with a Test call-up. Though I think he should have gotten another chance. You also spoke about Abhimanyu Easwaran. He has also performed well in domestic cricket for years and scored runs with a good average. But he has not made his debut yet. I am sure it will happen soon," Rahane said in a video posted on X.

In the clip, former India batter Cheteshwar Pujara also expressed his thoughts, opining that players who perform well in domestic cricket should be rewarded.

“When players perform well in domestic cricket, they deserve to be rewarded. If a player performs well in domestic cricket and then gets picked in the Test team, it encourages them, and I believe that this should continue and the Test team’s selection should be purely on the basis of performance in domestic cricket," Pujara said.