India’s middle-order batter Karun Nair, who made a highly-awaited comeback to the national team, has yet to meet expectations in the series against England. With competition rising from budding talents such as B Sai Sudharsan and Dhruv Jurel, Nair was under pressure to perform big in the third Test at Lord’s.
Though his 40-run score off 62 balls in the initial innings provided a glimpse of hope, Nair couldn’t capitalize on it in the second innings. He was bowled out at a mere score of 14 off 33 balls, and was caught LBW by Brydon Carse after a mystifying misread. While trying to leave the ball, Nair didn’t read the line at all, and hence a simple dismissal was not only abysmal but also left the fans and experts bewildered.
Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik did not mince words in his evaluation, terming it a “pretty ordinary leave”, while pointing towards Nair’s lack of ability to transform starts into substantial scores. Seconding those views, former England captain Michael Atherton termed the shot choice as a “bizarre decision”, reiterating that a player of Nair’s class should have used better reasoning in times of pressure.
“Completely out of the blue, he was looking solid as always. The ball didn’t do much, just came in straight. I don’t know what he was thinking. Karun Nair expected the ball to probably swing away, but it didn’t, just held its line, kept coming straight. Pretty ordinary leave, Brydon Carse loving it, it’s an important wicket.” said Karthik
“It’s a very strange leave from Karun Nair. Particularly at the end he’s batting, the end Carse is coming in from is the pavilion end, so you know naturally the ball is going to run back in at you, down the slope. So it’s an odd leave,” said Atherton.
“To make matters worse, he’ll have a big bruise there in the morning because it hit him on the inside of the pad, so he had to hobble off,” he added.
Iconic spinner Anil Kumble has referred to it as a “brain fade moment”, implying that the lapse cost not just Nair but gave England a subtle edge at a pivotal moment in the Test.
“India had a great chance; they did really well to restrict England to 192. Yashasvi Jaiswal played a poor shot. Once Karun Nair got out, and then Shubman Gill, it’s slight advantage to England. It was a great opportunity for Karun; he did all the hard work. He did look good, I don’t know, probably it was a brain fade,” said Kumble.
With chances dwindling, Karun Nair needs to buckle up if he wants to hold on to his place in India’s red-ball contingent given that young, hungry talent is poised to pounce from the sidelines.
