Follow UsIndia announced their 15-member squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on January 18 (Saturday). Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and skipper Rohit Sharma made the announcement in Mumbai.
Mohammed Siraj and Sanju Samson were the most notable absentees from the squad. However, one name has been making the rounds over the last few days: Karun Nair.
The right-handed batter has had a stellar season for Vidarbha in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, where he has scored 752 runs at a stunning average of 752, which includes five tons and a fifty in seven innings before the final. His knocks in the tournament include 112* 44*, 163*, 111*, 112, 122* and 88*.
The 33-year-old was hoping to add to his two One-Day International (ODI) caps on the back of such a performance. However, his wait for a return to international cricket has further been stalled.
He has neither been picked for the three-match ODI series against England nor for the eight-team Champions Trophy after that.
"Someone averages 700+, those are special performances. At the moment, finding a spot in this team is difficult," Agarkar said at the press conference.
"You look at the guys who have been picked, all average well in excess of mid-40s. Unfortunately, you can't fit everyone in a squad of 15. But those performances certainly make you take notice.
"If there is a loss of form tomorrow [for someone] or an injury, there'll certainly be a conversation surrounding him [Karun Nair]," he added added.
India are stacked with middle-order batters in Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and all-rounders in Hardik Pandya, Ravidra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
Under such circumstances, finding a spot in the team was always going to be difficult. Moreover, these are the players who have played together over a long period of time and tasted success as well. Hence, integrating a new player into the setup could be challenging for India.
In his two ODIs, both of which came against Zimbabwe in 2016, Nair managed just 46 runs. However, he went on to play seven Tests for India, the last of which was in 2017, smashing 374 runs at 62.33, including a triple ton — one of two Indian players to reach the landmark.