Karun Nair whacked for ruining second chance cricket gave him, gets 4 out of 10 for ENG series: ‘He had a real chance…’

Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan didn't hold back while criticising Karun Nair for his underwhelming show on the England tour. The middle-order batter failed to get going on his comeback series and scored just one half-century in the four matches he played. He got a call-up in the Indian team after eight years, after he proved himself in domestic cricket with a plethora of runs. Karun Nair failed to make an impact on his comeback Test series.(PTI)

He piled up 863 runs in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy at an average of 53.93, notching up four centuries and a couple of fifties, including a crucial knock in the final that steered his team to victory. But it was in the Vijay Hazare Trophy where he truly turned heads, racking up 779 runs in just eight innings at a staggering average of 389.50 and a strike rate of 124.04, hammering five centuries along the way.

He failed to replicate this on his India comeback and scored just 205 runs in 8 innings at an average of 25.62. He did get some starts and played some exquisite drives to showcase his skills, but he failed to convert them into a big score.

Pathan rated him four out of ten for his lack of consistency and criticised him for throwing his wicket away when he had the big opportunity to help India win the Lord's Test.

“Karun Nair gets four out of ten. Why? He didn’t look particularly poor throughout the series. He kept getting starts consistently but managed only one half-century. He got plenty of opportunities. Cricket definitely gave him a second chance, but he couldn’t capitalise on it the way he should have. Especially in the Lord’s Test, he had a real chance to win the match for India but couldn’t do it," Pathan said on his YouTube channel.

“Karun Nair looked a bit shaken”

The former India all-rounder further pointed out his struggles against short balls at the Oval, which unsettled him on a couple of occasions, hinting at a chink in his armoury.

“Other than that, it often seemed like he was playing well, building up nicely, and then suddenly, he’d play a loose shot and get out. At the Oval, when the bouncer was used against him, he looked a bit shaken and seemed more unsettled and uncomfortable. So, he gets four points,” he added.

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