Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh lambasted the Indian selection committee for not rewarding Karun Nair with a place in the ODI squad after the Vidarbha captain pulled off an all-timer of a season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) with the bat. Nair had the third-best VHT season with the bat for a batter, scoring 779 runs in eight innings at an average of 389.5 including five centuries and a fifty but didn't find his name on India's ODI squad for the England series and the Champions Trophy later on.
"Is there a point playing Domestic cricket when you don’t pick players based on form & performance? #KarunNair," Harbhajan asked on X (formerly Twitter) after BCCI announced what was a predicted squad, apart from Mohammed Siraj's snub.
Nair became only the second batter in VHT history to smash five tons in one season and his average of close to 400 is the best ever for any batter in a List-A tournament playing eight or more games. However, the question was who would Nair have replaced? Since Nair doesn't keep, he would have come in Shreyas Iyer's spot in all likelihood but since the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy-winning captain has been in great touch, was always going to be a lock-in, especially after a 500-odd run World Cup in 2023.
Maybe after the Champions Trophy, if the ODI team also goes under transition, Nair might get a look-in. However, for now with Rohit Sharma as the skipper and Shubman Gill being the vice-captain, the team management might not be looking too far into the reserves.
While India sweat over Jasprit Bumrah's fitness, most of the other selections were on point with Yashasvi Jaiswal being the only member in the side, yet to play an ODI. Mohammed Shami returned to the side and the five-match T20I series will be key with respect to his fitness after a long layoff.