New Delhi: Having made his comeback in India’s Test squad after eight years, senior batter Karun Nair will be hoping to make the most of the opportunity in the upcoming series against England. Nair is part of India’s squad for the England Test series and will be donning the whites for India for the first time since 2017, when he last played for the national team.
Nair has revealed he was advised by a prominent Indian cricketer to take retirement from international cricket when he was running out of favour from the Indian team. The 34-year-old was urged by the cricketer to focus on playing T20 leagues to gain financial security. However, Nair decided against retiring as he didn’t want to give up on his dreams of making his India comeback.
“I still remember a prominent Indian cricketer calling me and saying you need to retire because the money in these leagues would make me secure,” Nair told the Daily Mail.
“It would have been easy to do, but I knew that regardless of the money, I would be kicking myself for giving up that easily,” added the 33-year-old.
Nair, who is only the second Indian batter after Virender Sehwag to have scored a triple century in Test cricket, was dropped from the Test team, just three matches after his unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai in December 2016. Things went further downhill for the senior batter after the 2022 domestic season, as he was dropped by the Karnataka team.
Nair didn’t play any competitive cricket for nearly 14 months before earning a county stint with Northamptonshire, which paved the way for his strong comeback. He joined Vidarbha in the domestic circuit and has been one of the most consistent performers for them since joining the team in 2023. He smashed 779 runs at a staggering average of 389.5 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 to turn heads and slammed 863 runs in the Ranji Trophy to earn a recall in the Indian Test squad.
Expectations high from Karun Nair ahead of England Test series
The expectations are high from Nair ahead of the upcoming five-match Test series between India and England, which is set to get underway from June 20. Nair is expected to bat at no.4 for India in the series, in the absence of Virat Kohli, who retired from Test cricket last month. The 33-year-old will be hoping to continue his fine form in the challenging series.
Nair also did well for India A in the unofficial Test matches against England Lions. He scored a magnificent double century in the first practice match against the hosts to warm in style for the upcoming five-match Test series.
Senior India batter Karun Nair revealed a prominent Indian cricketer advised him to retire when he was out of favour from the national team. Nair is part of India’s squad for the upcoming Test series against England. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
