Karun Nair had a rollercoaster ride in last one year. The Karnataka batsman, who was once looking as the top contender to seal a place in Indian test squad, went from hot to cold in matter of 12 months. He had scored a Test triple century in December 2016 and after a year, he is no where close to making a comeback into the Indian team again.
Karun talked about his career post the triple hundred. "The past one year has shown me everything. It took me to a high and then brought me down to earth," he said.
Nair shared the much-needed lesson life taught him. "It has taught me to stay level-headed emotionally. You can't fly high when you are on top as you can come down at any moment. You have to remain the same person. It's shown me everything in my life in just one year," he added.
Life others, Karun was also frustrated when his form wasn't helping him. "It was frustrating. I was batting well but not converting the starts I was getting. It started frustrating me and it took some time to come out of it. But then I sat back and thought as to why I had started playing the game. I started looking at it that way. And it has helped me," said Karun.
Karun is looking to lead (in absence of injured Vinay Kumar) Karnataka to Vijay Hazare Trophy glory as his side takes on Hyderabad in the quarter-finals at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Wednesday. Nair is confident of beating a strong Ambati Rayudu led Hyderabad side.
"I have always enjoyed captaincy whenever I have got an opportunity. Even when Vinay leads the side, I give my inputs. My theory is simple - when I am batting, I am a batsman and not the captain. Once I am fielding, I am the captain. My immediate goal is to win tomorrow's game. One match at a time," he said.
"Throughout the season, we have been doing well but in one-off matches, we have lost out on crucial moments. That one moment (fifth day vs Vidarbha) changed the season for us. The problem with Karnataka is that we have set the bar so high in recent years that people expect us to win everything," he added.
He agreed that the team will miss Vinay Kumar, but Stuart Binny and Srinath Aravind are back, which is a positive for the team.
"We are going to miss one of our main bowlers but all the youngsters are up for it and they are looking forward towards grabbing the opportunity. One performance can take anyone anywhere. But the good news is Arvind and Stuart are back but yes, we will certainly miss Vinay," the stand-in captain said.
Karun, who has scored 199 runs with a century in five games, is more keen to see that Karnataka wins the coveted trophy.
"I am just looking forwards towards contributing in Karnataka's victories. If we win most games and if I can perform to my potential, I will be happy. But my team must win, that's my priority. It's not just, Oh I will always score runs because that's not in my control."
