Chandigarh, May 17: Karun Nair has been selected in the India A team to tour England and his dream of playing in the senior men’s cricket team again is almost fulfilled. Nair, who has played many great innings in domestic cricket this season, is just one or two innings away from making it to the main India team. After continuous failure in cricket in the year 2022, he wrote an emotional post. Nair wrote on X, ‘Dear cricket, give me another chance.’
Irfan Pathan’s reaction
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has reacted to Karun Nair’s selection in the India-A team by linking to that post. Pathan posted on X on Karun’s selection, ‘Karun Nair being selected for India A is a clear indication that dear cricket will give him another chance to play for Team India again.’ Nair made his debut for India in 2016, but despite scoring a triple century in Tests, he failed to play for the team for a long time. Once he was out of the team, he never returned. After being dropped from the Karnataka team in 2022, he posted on social media ‘Dear Cricket’.
Door to senior team may open
An impressive performance for India A in England will certainly open doors for the right-handed batsman, especially at a time when Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have quit the format. Karun will try to occupy the place of one of these by playing a good innings. After representing Karnataka in domestic cricket for many years, he is now representing Vidarbha. In the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 779 runs in eight innings, including five centuries. Four of these were back-to-back centuries. He almost single-handedly took Vidarbha to the final. Not only this, he also performed brilliantly in the Ranji Trophy. He scored 863 runs in nine matches, including an important century and a half-century in the final against Kerala. His role was important in Vidarbha winning the title.
Nair’s comeback like a film story
If Nair is selected in the main Test team, it will be one of the most tremendous comebacks in cricket. In six Test matches for India, he scored 374 runs at an average of 62.33. This includes a triple century. In first-class cricket, Karun has scored 8211 runs at an impressive average of 49.16. These include 23 centuries and 36 half-centuries. Despite the triple century, he was sidelined. He was part of the team that toured England in 2018, but never got a chance to play.
India-A team has to play two matches
India A has to play two matches against England Lions, which will start from May 30 in Canterbury. India-A team will also play an ‘intra-squad’ match with the senior team in Beckenham from June 13 to 16. The first Test between India and England will start in Leeds from June 20. The India-A team includes players from those IPL teams who are either out of the playoff race or are unlikely to make it to the knockouts. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Dhruv Jurel were also included in the India A team.
Easwaran will captain the India-A team
Vidarbha left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey is also part of the touring team who has taken a record 69 wickets in this Ranji Trophy season. Ishan Kishan, who has been out of the national team for some time, is the second wicketkeeper in the team. Fast bowler Harshit Rana, Akash Deep, who was part of the Test team in Australia, and batsman Sarfaraz Khan have also been selected for the ‘shadow tour’ of England. Abhimanyu Easwaran will captain the team.
Gill and Sudarshan will also play for India-A
India is going through a phase of change after the retirement of Rohit and Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill is set to become India’s Test captain. Gill and B Sai Sudarshan will be available for the second four-day match against England Lions starting in Northampton from June 6. Gill has not had much success in England, so he would like to make full use of the opportunity in the second four-day match. His Gujarat Titans teammate Sudarshan is expected to be selected in the Test team, who is in excellent form.
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