Out of the Indian team for seven years, 32-year-old Karun Nair has smashed a double century in the ongoing season of the County Championship. Nair, who went unsold in the Indian Premier League auction, scored an unbeaten 202 from 253 deliveries for Northamptonshire in their clash against Glamorgan in the 11th match of the season at County Ground, Northampton.
Coming out to bat unbeaten at 55 at the start of the third day on Sunday, Nair showed his range of shots to reach the double ton and take his team to 605/6. This led the Northamptonshire skipper to call in an immediate declaration.
Notably, Nair has not played for India since 2017 when he last donned the Indian whites during a Test series against Australia at home. He played for Vidarbha in the 2023-24 Ranji Trophy and was the highest run-scorer for them with 690 runs to his name. Nair joined Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 season after being axed by Karnataka in the 2022-23 season of the tournament.
Nair was instrumental with the bat in helping Vidarbha finish as runners-up in the Ranji Trophy 2023-24. He said that he still eyes to play for India again. "I think I have batted pretty well. I have got runs in all formats. I could have gone better in all formats but having said that, at least this season I have got quite a few runs starting from playing a few games in the County Championship," Nair told media after his 74-run knock in the Ranji Trophy final against Mumbai.
"(One) hundred per cent I think I can come back. Otherwise, I wouldn't be giving my all to play domestic cricket. (One) hundred per cent I feel I can play for India again. It's just about putting up the performances and keeping the consistency," Nair said as he eyes a comeback.
