Four days after Karun Nair was dropped from playing XI for the must-win Test match against England in Manchester, the Indian camp broke their silence on why Sai Sudharsan had replaced him despite getting backing from captain Shubman Gill.The England tour was supposed to be Karun Nair‘s redemption series.
The 33-year-old Karun Nair had donned the Indian jersey after eight years, having earned a call-up after his record domestic season. However, his redemption tune fell flat, with Karun Nair managing only 133 runs in six innings, without a single half-century score.
Amid speculations on whether Karun Nair ran out of opportunities, Shubman Gill came out in the pre-match presser to support the veteran batter, thus ending all the chatter about a possible change in the playing XI for the Old Trafford Test match. However, India eventually dropped the batter for the Test match, making way for Sudharsan to return to the line-up since his debut earlier in the series opener in Leeds.
Sai Sudharsan, who played just one match in the ongoing series, scored a valiant half-century in the first innings in Manchester, before getting dismissed for a golden duck in the second innings. Speaking to the media after the end of Day 4’s play in Manchester, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak discussed the decision to drop Karun Nair.
Karun Nair hasn’t batted badly- Sitanshu Kotak
Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has revealed the reasoning behind Karun Nair’s snub for the ongoing fourth Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester. Karun Nair faced the axe after India’s heartbreaking 22-run loss at Lord’s as they failed to chase down the target of 193 on Day 5. Recently, Sitanshu Kotak opened up on Karun Nair’s selection call and revealed that the management may have thought that he would be under extreme pressure to perform in Manchester and hence didn’t pick him.
“Selection is in Gautam and Gill’s hands. Even if I were part of the selection group, I don’t think it’s worth discussing it here. But, he said we would back him. That means… if you look at this series, he hasn’t batted badly. He has gotten good starts each and every time.
“Sometimes, if the team management thinks there might be pressure building on Karun and it might increase in the fourth Test of the series, then they can change. It doesn’t mean that the team management is not backing him,” said Sitanshu Kotak in the press conference at the end of the day.
Karun Nair scored just 131 runs in the six innings at an average of 21.83 and a best score of 40. He registered scores of 30 and 41 in the first innings at Edgbaston and Lord’s respectively, but failed to convert it into big innings. As a result, he was shown the door and a young Sudharsan took his place in the playing XI.
Karun Nair was replaced by Sai Sudharsan for the ongoing fourth fixture and the youngster registered scores of 61 and 0 in the two innings respectively. Despite India’s struggle batting coach Sitanshu Kotak dismissed concerns over the No 3 slot. He opined :
“I don’t think it’s been a problem to be honest. Karun got a few starts and got out. Sai also scored 30 in the first game in the second innings and got out. The way Sai batted in the first innings was very good. Second innings, obviously, he got out first ball.”
Talking about the match, England sniffed a moment of opportunity to pin India down after Chris Woakes dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sudharsan in successive deliveries in the opening over of their second innings. But the pair of Gill (78 not out) and KL Rahul (87 not out) frustrated the hosts, who ended the day on 174-2 and trailing by 137. With some rain forecast for Sunday, England may run out of time to seal a win that looked so likely earlier in the day.
What remains to be seen is whether India will persist with Karun Nair beyond the ongoing England tour. The senior batter has yet to cement his place in the XI, despite the opportunity that arose following the Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in May this year. India’s next Test series is at home against the West Indies, starting October 2.
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