Karun Nair, India’s 303-man, dreams to take a fresh guard in Tests again

Remember Karun Nair, only the second Indian batter apart from Virendra Sehwag to have scored a triple hundred in Test matches back in 2016?  It’s been one of the biggest mysteries as to why the compact middle order batter played only three more Tests after that – but the heartening news is, the 33-year-old is still in no mood to give up on his dreams.    

It’s been eight years since Karun, who came into the side as a replacement for Ajinkya Rahane, piled up an epic 303 against England in Chennai.  A pillar of the powerful Karnataka batting line-up along with his peers K.L. Rahul and Mayank Agarwal, he shifted allegiance to Vidarbha in the 2023-24 season after being out of favour in his home state for a year -- and the runs have been flowing ever since.

In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, India’s official 50-overs domestic tournament where he will be leading out Vidarbha against Punjab in the quarter final on Sunday, the batter is refusing to get dismissed.

After six matches, he has amassed 542 runs already with four centuries and not getting out so far – a ‘world record’ in List A cricket for going unconquered for most number of runs. He broke the record of former New Zealand allrounder James Franklin, who scored 527 runs in 2010 without getting out. The other prominent names who feature in the list are Pakistan’s Fakhar Zaman (455) and Taufeeq Umar (422).

‘’Well, I am not waiting for anything to happen really,’’ the prolific scorer told National Herald from his team hotel in Baroda – in response to a query on chance of a national recall with a surfeit of white ball engagements coming up.

‘’I want to play Test matches again and I am trying to find ways to do that. I played County cricket over last couple of years and enjoyed it thoroughly and my mindset now is to score runs from as many opportunities as I can,’’ said the Vidarbha captain for the season.

In any other major cricket playing nation, Karun would have had a longer rope but not in India – where there is a premium is very often on bigger names. He never got a chance after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home in 2017, having logged in 374 runs in all from six Tests at an average of 62.33. Asked if it still hurts, the batter says after a pause: ‘’The way I see it is only two people have done it so far (triple hundreds in Tests for India), so I have tried to draw strength from the feat.’’

Runs across formats

A 360 degrees look at his runs across formats shows Karun had been consistent with a capital C in all formats over the past one and-a-half years – having garnered 690 runs in Ranji Trophy for Vidarbha in the 2023-24 season before his adopted state lost to Mumbai in the final. The runs flowed in the T20 format too but the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy saw him hogging the headlines on a regular basis.

Has he added any new facet in his batting? ‘’Not really, I have been batting the way I know to play. I have done well in all the formats and have done well in the IPL as well. But then, I am not making the decisions,’’ Karun remarked. He is also keen to capitalise on a call-up with Delhi Capitals in IPL 2025 as a stronger visibility in the league often works wonders in Indian cricket ecosystem these days.

As someone who has captained the side in different levels like Karnataka, India A and IPL teams, the batter did not have to try extra hard to fit into a leadership role for Vidarbha. ‘’The team has been playing extremely well and there was nothing much to do. My job is just to make sure everyone is in the same page and try and try and see if we can go all the way,’’ he signed off.