Karun Nair Gets Heartbreaking "Selectors Moving On" Message, Dinesh Karthik Goes Unfiltered

The 8-year wait for Team India's return came to an end for Karun Nair on the tour of England, as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selection committee decided to reward him for consistent performances in domestic cricket. However, Nair's performances over the 4 games he featured in on the tour, remained below-par. Despite scoring a half-century in the 5th and final Test, the batter's career in the longest format on the international stage seems to have come to an end.

The Indian team chose to pick left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal over Nair, with the selection committee chief Agarkar confirming that the latter didn't give the team the sort of performances in England tour would've seen the management persisting with him.

While Nair might not have given up on hopes of playing for India again, former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik, in a chat with Cricbuzz, feels the selectors have moved on from him.

"The fact that Karun Nair is not looked at anymore means they are moving on from him, which is very tough on him. I think he played in one of the toughest series on tough pitches. But in all fairness, he'll look back himself and say, 'Could I have scored more runs in a couple of innings at the start, in the first three Tests?' Because in the last Test, he got a 50 on a tough pitch," said Karthik.

"I can promise you if he was playing this series, he would get runs. It's almost a given, the way he's batting. The fact is they are saying, 'Big series, we have him an opportunity and he didn't deliver. So we move on to somebody young for the future'."

On Padikkal's return to the team, Karthik feels the southpaw does have the talent to deliver for India in the whites. In fact, Karthik also feels it was Padikkal's injury that paved the way for Nair to earn a recall to the team on the England tour.

"I really feel Devdutt being given an opportunity is a good thing because he has got 80 in Australia (for India A last year). He's got skills because Australia is a very hard place to play and he got runs there. And the England series last year, he got a 50 in Dharamsala. So he has earned his stripes. He got injured and that's why Karun Nair came into the squad. Otherwise, Devdutt would have been part of the squad from day one in England. So he has earned his recall into the Indian team," said Karthik.

Topics mentioned in this article

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