Karun Nair had one of the greatest runs you can ever have in cricket. The Vidarbha captain batted eight times in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and was dismissed just twice while amassing a whopping 779 runs. Nair played a major role in taking his team to a major final in the domestic List A tournament. Unfortunately, both he and his team fell short in the final. That too, just a day before the India cricket team announced the squad for the ICC Champions Trophy.
Karun Nair in, but who to drop?
Some wanted Karun Nair to be included in the 15-man team. However, what most forgot to mention was who he would replace. He batted at three of Vidarbha; were people expecting Virat Kohli to be demoted down for him? Do they want Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul to be dropped? Questions over Nair’s exclusion were asked, but without answering who he would come in for.
Can’t replace Shreyas Iyer or KL Rahul
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has reasoned why he thinks Nair couldn’t find a spot in Team India’s squad for the ICC Champions Trophy. “Where should they fit him? You could have taken the spot of KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. KL will perform the role of second wicketkeeper-batter for this team, and his performance during the 2023 World Cup was good. I don’t think the Indian cricket team has played much ODI cricket after that. Shreyas Iyer has also performed well in the format. That is why Karun Nair has not been picked,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
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For the unaware, among active players, only Virat Kohli averages more than Shreyas Iyer at number five in ODIs, while in the history of the format, only AB de Villiers averages more than KL Rahul at number five. One doesn’t need to say what Kohli’s record at number three is; the whole world knows that. In short, even if the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) wanted to include Nair, they can’t look over these ODI behemoths.
India’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Travelling Reserves: Varun Chakaravarthy, Avesh Khan, Nitish Kumar Reddy
