New Delhi: The Vijay Hazare Trophy final culminated with Karnatka winning their fifth title in Vadodara. Mayank Agarwal and his men sealed a dramatic 36-run win against Vidarbha at the Kotambi Stadium. The cynosure of the tournament was the ascendancy of Vidarbha skipper Karun Nair.
Such was the magnitude of Nair’s red-hot form with the bat that even legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar went on to laud the astounding efforts. 779 runs in eight innings at an average of 389.50 with five centuries and one fifty was never going to be unnoticed.
This led to an abuzz of the Nair’s sensation shouldn’t go in vain and he should be considered for the ICC Champions Trophy squad. Many felt it was his due to make a return to the Indian team since his last appearance in the 50-over format was made in 2017. Just that it wasn’t the case to be.
On Saturday, BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar, in the presence of Indian skipper Rohit Sharma, announced the 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy. Karun’s name wasn’t mentioned in the list as the World Cup batch of middle order comprising Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul being preffered.
“Averaging 750+ is simply insane. Performance like this don’t happen often. However, with only 15 spots available, we can’t fit everyone,” Ajit Agarkar acknowledged Nair’s astounding show while trying to explain his omission.
The Vidarbha captain being overlooked by the selectors raise eyebrows over the board’s constant reminders to the Indian internationals to give priority to domestic cricket for their selection in the national team.
Not any of the top five run-getters in the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy edition were considered for the selection. Nair (779 at 388.50), Mayank Agarwal (651), Siddhesh Veer (520 at 86.66), Prabhsimran Singh (498 at 83), and Dhruv Shorey (494 at 70.57) were the leading scorers in the List A competition.
Arshdeep Singh, who was the highest wicket-taker (21 wickets at 18.25), was the only strike bowler to be considered for India selection, though he was part of the Indian squad in their last ODI assignment against Sri Lanka in August last year. There was also focus on Varun Chakravarthy, who picked 18 wickets for Tamil Nadu, for changing his bowling strides.
There should be a reward for domestic performance to avoid making it look as inconsequential.
The Vijay Hazare Trophy final culminated with Karnatka winning their fifth title in Vadodara. Mayank Agarwal and his men sealed a dramatic 36-run win against Vidarbha at the Kotambi Stadium. The cynosure of the tournament was the ascendancy of Vidarbha skipper Karun Nair. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
