Follow UsKarun Nair’s Test comeback has turned out to be a short and unsuccessful one as the veteran batter today was dropped from the starting XI for the fourth Test at Old Trafford, on the back of his failure to rack up a substantial score in the first three Tests of the series.
Nair made his Test return after eight years in the first Test at Headingley, and posted scores of 0 & 20 as India endured a tough loss. He then got two good starts (31 & 26) at Edgbaston but failed to push on and score big.
He had a similar sort of a game at Lord’s (40 & 14) but yet again failed to post a fifty. As a result, he was axed for the fourth Test, with Sai Sudharsan taking his place in the team.
Nair’s axing was not a surprise because of his scores, but it was only 24 hours before the game that he had been publicly backed by skipper Shubman Gill, who said in the pre-match press conference that the management was backing Nair to ‘turn it around’.
“Yes, we have had conversations with him, but we think he is batting well. We think Karun is betting well,” Gill said on Tuesday.
“The first match he didn't really play at this number. It's difficult when a player is making a comeback in a series like this. But I don't think there's been any issue with batting. He's been batting well.
“Sometimes it's also about getting that click. Once you're able to make your fifty, then you're able to get back into your zone and uh get some big runs. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened for him so far, but, we are hopeful that he will be able to turn around.”
The triple-century against England in Chennai in 2016 remains Nair’s only 50+ score in Test cricket.