One of the two Indian batsmen with a triple-century in the longest format, Karun Nair has been away from the national squad since 2018 and has also been dropped from India A team. He can certainly make his India comeback if he does well in domestic cricket. But since the Ranji Trophy kicks off in November, he won’t be able to present his case till then.
While Nair waits for the start of the Ranji Trophy 2021/22, former India assistant coach Sanjay Bangar has backed him to make his India comeback. Speaking to Cricket.com, Bangar has said that Nair is a capable batsman and that he was dropped after one or two average Test matches.
“Vihari has been a good investment because of his fine contributions in the past. More recently, it was his solid effort in Sydney (2021) in drawing that Test. He is a very capable batsman but one player who is in queue for the middle order could be Karun Nair because of his Test match record and also his overall first-class numbers. Karun had one or two average Test matches and he was sidelined,” he told Cricket.com.
Bangar was part of the coaching staff during Nair’s first run in the international ticket. He was the head coach of the side on the Zimbabwe tour, where Nair donned the ODI cap for the first time.
Nair, who plays for Karnataka in domestic cricket, has 374 runs in 6 Test matches. He played 2 ODIs, where he scored 46 runs. He is uncapped in T20Is. The 29-year-old has played IPL for Rajasthan Royals, Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Punjab Kings in IPL. He is now part of Kolkata Knight Riders.
