Karun Nair is on a role in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. In the second semi-final between Vidarbha and Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Maharashtra side at Baroda's newly built Kotambi Stadium, Karun Karun Nair made 88* in 44 balls as his team posted 380. Nair's scores in the tournament 112*, 44*, 163*, 111*, 112, 122* and 88*. Thanks to seven unbeaten scores in eight innings, Nair's average has hit 752.
Nair, who is a Test triple centurion, has thus sent a strong signal ahead of the Champions Trophy.
Karun Nair is now the first captain in Vijay Hazare Trophy to cross 700-run mark. Before this Gaikwad, who scored 660 runs in five innings during the 2022-23 season, was the highest scorer as captain.
Nair, now playing for Vidarbha since 2023, had a steep fall from being India's second triple centurion in Tests back in 2016 to not even being considered for selection by his state, Karnataka. However, a chat with former Indian cricketer Abey Kuruvilla during the DY Patil tournament in early 2023 helped him find his new home in Vidarbha during the 2023-24 season. Since then, he has been piling runs everywhere, irrespective of the format.
He has been the top run-getter in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Nair's T20 game went on an upward trajectory as well. He topped the run-charts in the Maharaja T20 Trophy by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), scoring 560 runs in 12 matches at an average of 56.00, a strike rate of over 181, with a century and five fifties in 12 innings with the best score of 124. He also did well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, scoring 255 runs in six innings at an average of 42.50, with three half-centuries and a strike rate of over 177.
Things did not look so bright for him when he returned from a county stint with Northamptonshire back in 2024, scoring 487 runs. In a podcast, former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa had asked what the batter needed to do in order to get noticed after he was not considered for the season-opening Duleep Trophy competition. His omission had come after making 690 runs in 10 matches at an average of 40.58 during the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy, in which his performances helped Vidarbha earn a runners-up finish to Mumbai, who won a record-extending 42nd title.
Now having a laugh over that podcast, Nair said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, "Funnily enough I said I think I need to score a hundred in every single innings to kind of get noticed."
"I think I may have manifested something like this unknowingly in that chat with Robbie, and that is coming to fruition. At the time of recording the podcast, I was hurting a bit. After scoring runs in England and scoring nearly 700 runs [690 at the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy] to take Vidarbha into the finals, I did feel I could have got a look-in for the Duleep Trophy."
With ANI inputs