Karun Nair Returns After 3006 Days: 3 Indian Players Who Made Test Comeback After Long Absence

After getting dropped post the 2017 home Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, and after completely getting ignored for years after that, nearly everyone came to the conclusion that Karun Nair’s Test career was over.

However, thanks to his relentless efforts, Nair has done the impossible, returning to the Test side after eight long years — 3006 days (or 8 years, 2 months & 23 days to be precise).

Eight years is a long, long absence, but did you know Nair is not the first player to return to the Indian Test side after an extended hiatus?

We look at three famous names who fought against the odds and made it back to the Indian Test side after a sustained absence.

Jaydev Unadkat - 12 years and 2 days

After a solitary Test in December 2010 away in South Africa, where he got pummeled for 101 runs, Jaydev Unadkat was completely discarded by the selectors. He didn’t even come close to selection for the next decade, and he was a forgotten man of sorts in Indian cricket.

However, against all odds, Unadkat made his way back into the Test side 12 years later, in 2022, by dominating the domestic circuit. 

Unadkat returned to the Test side in the 2022 Test series against Bangladesh in Mirpur. He then played two more Tests, both away in the West Indies. 

Rightly rewarded for his relentlessness. 

Dinesh Karthik - 8 years, 144 days

After debuting in 2004 against Australia and then playing a total of 23 Tests between 2004 and 2010, Dinesh Karthik was dropped from the Indian Test side. Considering MS Dhoni was the first name on the team sheet, it looked like Karthik’s career was done for good.

However, eight years later, four years post Dhoni’s retirement, the veteran Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper once again made his way back into the Test side.

An injury to Wriddhiman Saha paved the way for DK’s comeback. He made his return in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in 2018, but his comeback lasted only 3 Tests as he was eventually replaced by Rishabh Pant midway through the England series in 2018.

Parthiv Patel - 8 years, 107 days

Parthiv Patel’s Test career is a career of three parts. First, between 2002 and 2004, he played a total of 19 Tests. Then, four years later, in 2008, he returned for a solitary Test away in Sri Lanka.

Parthiv then spent eight years in the shadows of Dhoni, just like Karthik, and then returned for the home series against England in 2016. He’d play two more Tests before being ignored for another two years, and would return for another two Tests away in South Africa in 2018. 

Nair would hope that his comeback lasts longer than all these aforementioned veterans, and is more impactful.