India No. 3 batter’s Ranji Trophy-winning coach at Vidarbha, Usman Ghani, believes Nair should be retained for the crucial 4th Test against England; insists his mental strength and grit will help team emerge from 1-2 deficit
Karun Nair during the second Test against England at Edgbaston, Birmingham, earlier this month. Pic/Getty Images
India's No. 3 batter Karun Nair piled on the runs in the domestic circuit to make a deserving comeback to the Test team after a gap of eight years. However, going by his performances in the first three Tests in the ongoing series against England, his place in the playing XI for the fourth fixture, starting on July 23 at Manchester, is uncertain.
Poor run of scores
Nair, 33, scores in the six innings on this England tour so far are 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14, totalling 131 runs in the three matches. The scores clearly aren’t impressive, but his Ranji Trophy-winning coach Usman Ghani, believes the team management should persist with him for good reason. “Karun has unfortunately got out to a few very good deliveries [on the England tour]. He got a good ball in the last innings at Lord’s as well, where he left the ball [but was trapped LBW by pacer Brydon Carse]. It’s possible that he may have gone into a defensive mode. He probably was in two minds about whether to leave or play that one. But I believe whatever innings he has played, have been very sweet. I think he will be retained for the remaining two Tests,” Ghani, who coached Vidarbha to the Ranji Trophy title last season, told mid-day over the phone from Nagpur on Thursday.
Usman Ghani
Nair played a crucial role, scoring 863 runs, to help Vidarbha emerge Ranji champions last season, while he posted an impressive 690 runs in the previous (2023-24) season when they lost to Mumbai in the final. Nair’s mental strength will help him prevail, felt Ghani. “Karun is mentally a very strong guy and that’s a fine trait to have. It’s not easy to make a comeback in the Test team after eight years, but he did it. He has that zeal and grit,” said Ghani, adding that the batter has shown some promising signs in his last few innings. “It’s just a matter of one good innings for Karun. He is playing well and has got starts. In the first innings of the Lord’s Test, he made a brilliant 40. He needs to build on that to get a bigger score to boost his confidence.”
‘Don’t bring Sudharsan now’
Tamil Nadu batsman Sai Sudharsan, 23, who made his Test debut against England in the first Test at Leeds (scoring 0 and 30), could be a contender for the No. 3 spot for the fourth Test. However, Ghani insisted that Karun’s experience will matter. “The selectors should go with Karun only, because he has experience. He is a very good slip fielder [took four catches in the series] too. The remaining two Tests are a must win for India, so they will be pressure matches and in such situations, you should not keep a seasoned player out. It’s also not the right time to bring in a youngster like Sudharsan. Karun will bounce back. Don’t forget, he scored five consecutive centuries in the Vijay Hazare Trophy [top-scoring with 779 runs in 2024-25]. So, he knows what to do and is focused. He just needs some luck on his side,” concluded Ghani.
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