Karun Nair’s Old ‘Plea to Cricket’ Resurfaces as He Makes Comeback After 3,000 Days

Almost 3000 days after Karun Nair is scheduled to don the whites for India yet again. The man who had become only the second Indian batter, after Virender Sehwag, to score a triple century in Test cricket, had been out of concession for a longer time following his last clash in 2017 against Australia in Dharamsala.

He had to wait. He went down to domestic cricket, kept on playing, and kept knocking on the doors of selectors. These knocks appeared to fall on deaf ears. Still, he refused to give up.

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He remained silent and kept telling himself, "Dear cricket, give me one more chance."

The right-hander had a superb 2024–25 domestic season, amassing 863 runs in nine Ranji Trophy matches, with four centuries, and 779 runs in eight Vijay Hazare Trophy innings, with five tons.

And then, finally, the day arrived. After 3000 days, or eight years and two months, Nair is once again set to proudly don the much-awaited India Test jersey.

On Saturday, BCCI named Nair in India's squad for the five-match Test series to be played in England from June to August 2025, with matches scheduled at Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord’s (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London)

Interestingly, Nair made his Test debut against England in 2016, becoming the 287th player to represent India in Tests, with the famous Sunil Gavaskar presenting him his cap.

Now, Nair, aged 33 years, returns to the Test arena after quite a long hiatus—again against England but this time in their backyard.

Nair's childhood coach B. Shivanand recalled how during the years, the only statement his student could quietly utter while packing his kit bag was, "Cricket will give me another chance."

"He always remained calm. Never spoke about anything. 'Sir, cricket will give me another chance for sure' — that’s all he used to say whenever I looked at him. Seeing him so silent, I never asked him about his snub from the Test team. This guy is a god-gifted player. There are many, and he is one of them. May God bless him always. God is there, and He has given him a second life. I’m confident he will do better this time as well," Nair's childhood coach B.Shivanand told TimesofIndia.com in an exlclusive interview.

Nair had scored just 4 runs on debut. Following this, he made a splendid comeback in the very next Test, scoring an unbeaten 303 off 381 balls with 32 boundaries and 4 sixes, thus joining the exclusive band with Sehwag.

Sehwag, being the first Indian to triple-hundred in Tests, had come out applauding Nair for his achievement.

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"Yay! Welcome to the 300 club @karun126. It was very lonely here for the last 12 years 8 months. Wish you the very best Karun.Maza aa gaya!," Sehwag had opted.

Ironically, for Shivanand, the triple hundred became cause for a prolonged exile from Test cricket.

"I don’t know what the thinking was behind his ouster. I believe it was the triple ton. Success often comes at a cost. After Sehwag, Nair was the one who scored a triple century in Tests, and instead of giving a talent like him a long rope, they snubbed him. That’s not fair. That’s not fair to any cricketer who is talented and performing. Talented players shouldn’t be treated like tissue paper. Any other cricketer might have given up or even retired, but this guy was truly hungry for a comeback," the coach said.

"He always said, ‘I have to score runs in domestic cricket and the IPL,’ and he was confident he would be rewarded for his hard work. The wait was too long, and I’m sure, somewhere deep inside, Karun must be crying silently. But this time, you’ll see a different Karun.

"He’s not outwardly aggressive, but if you really want to see his aggression, just watch him now — with the bat. I want him to answer all the questions with a century this time, and he will. Watch out for him. That’s all I want to say. He is hungry — very hungry," Shivanand said.

India’s squad for England Tests

Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.

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