“Cricket gave him another chance” - Sanjay Manjrekar opens up on Karun Nair losing his place in the XI

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar felt that the Indian No.3 batter Karun Nair wasn’t able to catch the chance he received after the gap of eight years on the England tour.

Notably, Nair managed scores of 0, 20 playing at No.6 in the first Test in Leeds. He was then promoted to his preferred No.3 spot after Sudharsan was dropped, but could score only 31, 26, 40, and 14 without converting them into bigger ones. Eventually, he was replaced by Sudharsan at No.3 for the Manchester Test.

“It was an emotional story where he said, ‘Cricket, give me another chance’. Cricket gave him another chance. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to catch it. And, you know, we have Sai Sudarshan coming back. So that was the story. Good to see Sai Sudarshan back, because I thought he should have played the second Test as well,” Manjrekar told on JioHotstar.

Interestingly, at the pre-match press conference, Indian Test captain Shubman Gill asserted that Karun Nair has been batting well and added that there is no issue with his batting and backed him to score a fifty to find his mojo. Though it looked like Nair would receive one more chance in Manchester, he was eventually dropped from the XI.

“We think Karun is batting well. The first match he didn’t really play at his number (batted at 6). It’s difficult when a player is making a comeback in a series like this, you know. But I don’t think there’s been any issue with his batting. Sometimes it’s also about getting that click, you know. Once you’re able to make your 50, then you’re able to get back into your zone and get some big runs. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened for him so far,” Gill said at the pre-match press conference.

It’s important to note that Karun Nair played a crucial role in propelling Vidarbha to a title-winning run in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season, amassing 863 runs at an average of 53.

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