'Must Be Crying...': BCCI Blasted For Treating Karun Nair Like 'Tissue Paper'

News18

25-05-2025

Last Updated:
Karun Nair is back in India's Test squad eight years after having last played international cricket.
When Karun Nair peeled off a Test triple-century in 2016, a feat only one Indian before him had managed, it was an announcement of his prodigious talent. That he managed to do it in just the third Test of his fledgling international career, was a grand achievement in itself. However, as luck would have it, Nair managed to make only three more Test appearances before falling off the selectors' radar.
On Saturday, as Ajit Agarkar, chairman of BCCI's men's selection committee, announced Nair's name as one of the members of the 18-man India squad for the England Test tour, it was the culmination of an eight-year-long wait for the talented batter.
During this time, Nair scored a truckload of runs at the domestic level, switched from Karnataka to Vidarbha and helped his new side to title triumph in the Ranji Trophy – the country's top-flight domestic competition. In less than a month, he might again don the Test whites, a sweet fruit of his hard labour.
advetisement
Nair's childhood coach B Shivanand cannot fathom why Nair was punished despite hitting a historic triple ton just three Tests into his India career.
'I don't know what the thinking was behind his ouster," Shivanand told timesofindia.com. 'I believe it was the triple ton. Success often comes at a cost. After (Virender) 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."
Shivanand slammed the Indian team management for treating Nair like 'tissue paper' and praised the cricketer's resilience.
'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," he said.
While he saw the next generation of batters make their India debuts, Nair never lost hope and kept grinding it out in domestic cricket with dreams of making an international return.
Nair has scored 8,211 runs in 114 first-class matches while averaging 49.
He has 23 hundreds and 36 fifties to his name.
'He (Nair) 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," Shivanand said.
'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," he added.
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First Published:
May 25, 2025, 10:30 IST