Karun Nair's performance in the ongoing India vs England Test series has been under the scanner as the returnee batter has not been at his best. Despite having slammed a double century in the shadow game against England Lions, Nair has made a highest score of 40 in the three Test matches so far.
Nair has done the hard yards and spent a decent amount of time on the crease; however, he does not have a big score to boost his performance. The 33-year-old, who hit a triple century in 2016, has made a return to the national side after a nine-year absence. He played at No.6 in the first Test before moving up to No.3 in the next two matches when Sai Sudharsan sat out.
The move, however, has not paid dividends to the extent many hoped for, with Nair making a combined 111 in four innings of the second and third Test and 20 in the first two innings of the opening Test.
Former India cricketer-turned-broadcaster Murali Kartik gave his verdict on Nair's run, stating that he has not grabbed the opportunity that he should have.
"Karun Nair banged and broke the door, did everything, and made a comeback. That is why he has been in the 11 as well. But from No.5 or 6, he was shifted up to No.3 as he has experience. Given the number of runs he scored, he got a chance because of that. But has he grabbed the opportunity so far? I don’t think so, and there will be a lot of pressure on him," Murali Kartik said on Cricbuzz, speaking on Karun Nair.
"Will India look at continuity? They should. Because if you are playing any player with some logic, you want the player to prove that right. But it is also important to see if the player has converted the runs based on the experience. Has he done it? Maybe not. So it will be interesting to see what Gautam Gambhir and Shubman Gill think about him for the next game," Kartik added.
Meanwhile, former India head coach Ravi Shastri highlighted Nair's dismissal in the second innings of the third Test, when he left a straight ball, thinking it an outswinger and getting out LBW.
"Having said that, again at 40/1 [in the second innings], I thought that was a huge lapse in concentration from Karun Nair to leave a straight ball, a nothing ball, to leave it and open the door for England. I thought that the timing of that dismissal turned things around," said Shastri on the ICC Review.
The Indian top-order failed while chasing 193 and left the majority of the job for the lower-order. Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj gave their all, but India fell short by 22 runs to trail the series 1-2.
