Karun Nair made his India return to Test cricket after eight years on the recent tour to England. He played four tests and scored one fifty, scoring 205 runs and an average of 25.62. While it was not the homecoming he hoped for, it was a worthy prize for his amazing domestic run haul.
Meanwhile, India managed to draw the five-Test series 2-2, thanks to a brilliant batting display in the fourth Test in Manchester to earn a draw and then a spirited bowling display to win the final Test at the Oval by six runs.
One of the numerous images that went viral on social media and elsewhere purportedly showed comeback man Karun Nair crying as his India teammate KL Rahul comforted him.
However, the moment never materialized.
When Nair was sitting on the stadium balcony with Rahul, the image/clip was swiftly disproved as being artificial intelligence (AI) generated.
“I think that was an AI-generated video. I don’t think that’s a real video at all. Yes, we were sitting on the balcony, but after that, everything was, you know, it’s not real,” Nair said during a chat with InsideSport.
After eight years of waiting, Nair may not have had the best international return, but he did enjoy spending time with Rahul and Prasidh Krishna, his Karnataka teammates.
“Yeah, it was good to have Prasidh and KL Rahul with me. We really had a lot of fun in the last two months. We spent a lot of time together. We discussed cricket, and we discussed everything else about being back in the team. It was a good time, and I'm really glad that we could end the series on a high note," he said.
Given their performances throughout the campaign, Nair believes that the 2-2 scoreline is a fair outcome and that it would have been unfortunate if India had lost the series.
“Quite honestly, the entire series was a well-fought one between two amazing teams, and from our point of view, we would have been very disappointed if we had gone on to lose the series because we were performing at a really good level and we deserved to be closer in terms of the scoreline.
We always had the confidence that one wicket could change the momentum either way. So it was all about the belief and the way the bowlers and everyone supported each other; the fight and the never-give-up attitude that we showed was amazing to see," he added.
It remains to be seen whether Karun Nair will retain his place in the Indian squad, when they will next play Test cricket in October against the West Indies at home.
