Karun Nair is the second Indian batsman who scored a triple century in test cricket and is probably the most unlucky Indian cricketer. Do you know who is another Indian batsman before Karun Nair scored 300 in test cricket? That is Virender Sehwag. On 19th, December 2016, Karun Nair scored his 303 not out against England at MA Chidambaram Stadium. He played his last test match on March 25, 2017, against Australia. So Karun Nair is considered the most unlucky cricketer for India.
Karun Nair: The tragic hero of Indian Cricket
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Early Life of Karun Nair
Karun Nair was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan in a Malayali family. But grew up in Bangalore. Nair played all age group levels cricket for his state Karnataka. Because of his consistent performance, Karun Nair was selected for the India Under-19 team touring Australia.
Karun Nair in Domestic Cricket
In 2013 Karun made his debut for Karnataka in domestic cricket. Nair had an outstanding debut season in first-class cricket for his state team.
He became the hero for Karnataka to win Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy titles. Karun hits three consecutive centuries in Ranji Trophy matches. The first one was in the final league match, then quarter-final, and semi-final. He also hits the winning six in the final of the Ranji Trophy. Karnataka won the Ranji title after 15 years.
Next year Karnataka won the Ranji trophy title again. That year Nair scored 709 runs in their ten matches. And the highlight of the year for him was scoring a triple century in the Ranji Trophy final against Tamil Nadu.
With that inning, he made two records. First, He became only the second player from Karnataka to score a triple century. The second record was the first batsman to score a triple century in a Ranji final since 1946–47. It was a proud movement for Karun Nair because his 328 is the highest total by a batsman in the final of the Ranji Trophy.
Karun Nair in ODI
2016 was the best and eventful year for Karun Nair’s career. Because of his performance in domestic cricket, Karun Nair came to the notice of national selectors. After a few months, he had been selected for India A side. Eventually, Karun found himself in the India team. He was selected for the Zimbabwe tour in June 2016.
Nair made his One Day International(ODI) debut Against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on June 11, 2016. He played two matches there and never played ODI for India.
Karun Nair in Test Cricket
Consistent performance for his state team and India A, In 2015 first Karun Nair first time call up for India Test squad in Sri Lanka as a replacement for Murali Vijay. Although, he did not debut at that time.
On November 26, 2016, he made his Test debut against England at Mohali. In the third Test match of his career, Karun Nair scored his first century in Test cricket, and that he converted into a triple century. He remains 303 not-out. After that Test match, Karun Nair played only three more Test matches for India. He played his last Test for India on March 25, 2017, at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium against Australia. After that, he was in the team but never came into the playing eleven. All together, Nair played only six Test matches for India.
Karun Nair 300 in Test Cricket
Nair became the second Indian batsman after Virender Sehwag, who scored 300 in Test cricket. Also, he became the third batsman in the history of cricket to convert a maiden Test ton into a triple century.
Let’s know more details about the 300. It was the 5th test match of the series at Chennai. England won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored a convincing 477 in the 1st inning. India came to bat, and the opener KL Rahul and Parthiv Patel gave a solid start.
When Nair came to bat, India was 211 with the loss of three wickets. He completes his 100 by hatting a boundary to Ben Stokes. Than 150 with a single to Adil Rashid. In the first ball of 167th over, Karun Nair hit four to Jennings and reached to double hundred after playing 306 balls. Then he took 42 balls to touch another mile’s stone and scored 250. In another 33 balls, he scored 50 more runs to score the triple ton. In the fourth ball of 191 over, Nair hit a four to Adil Rashid and became the second Indian batter to hit the 300 in test cricket.
Karun Nair in IPL
Because of his domestic performances, Karun Nair was brought by Royal Challengers Bangalore 2013 IPL auction. He was there for two years and mostly spend on the benches. After RCB, Nair joined Rajasthan Royal. In the RR he got the guidance of Rahul Dravid, Brad Hodge, and Shane Watson.
His bat started to talk. Nair amassed 330 runs at a strike rate of 142.24 for RR. The following year he was not in that touch but played all matches in that session. In 2016 Rajasthan Royal went for two years of suspension. Karun Nair joined Delhi Daredevils. In the first session in Delhi, he did reasonably well. With three half-centuries, he scored more than 350 runs. Although, his team did not do well in that session.
In the tenth edition of IPL, Nair even captained for DD in the absence of Zaheer Khan. But the batting performance was on the lower side. In the 2018 IPL auction Kings XI Punjab picked him up. He scored more than 300 runs that year. In 2021 Karun Nair join Kolkara Night Rider(KKR) IPL team.
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What Happened to Karun Nair
Once a promising young cricketer with top talent, proved in International cricket, just faded away. Nair scored a 300 in Test cricket and within three months of the period, he found himself out of the team. What a tragedy! Probably Karun Nair is the most unlucky cricketer who played for India.
TEAM PLAYED
India, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Karnataka, Rajasthan Royals, South Zone, India A, Mangalore United, Indian Board Presidents XI, Rest of India, Delhi Capitals, Mysuru Warriors, India Green, Punjab Kings, Board Presidents XI, India Red, Kolkata Knight Riders.
ইসস।