Job is to focus on controllables, says Test triple centurion Karun Nair

If one is asked to find the tragic hero of Indian cricket, he/she will certainly settle with Karun Nair. The Karnataka batsman is one of India’s only two triple centurions for India in Tests but his journey in international cricket has remained nondescript yet. The 27-year-old batsman, who is busy playing Ranji Trophy at the moment, last saw himself in the Indian squad in England last year but remained a tourist for the entire trip before getting excluded, irking former greats like Sunil Gavaskar.

Nair salvaged some pride in the recent quarter-final in the elite domestic tournament by scoring an unbeaten 61 to drive his team home against Rajasthan – his home state – through to the semifinals. He came out to bat when Karnataka were four down for 56 chasing 184 and added unbeaten 129 runs with his skipper Manish Pandey to win it.

Pandey said after the game that Nair was hungry to get back into the runs and he did it in the game against Rajasthan. Nair has had an on and off season this year, thanks to a finger injury that has allowed him to take part in just four games and he did not produce anything extraordinary. His unbeaten half-century could indicate that he is getting into shape as the tournament approaches its business end.

Karun Nair now takes things more philosophically

On the possibility of returning to the national side, Nair is more philosophical though. Having last played for India in early 2017, the six-Test veteran averages over 62 in the longer format but did not get to play much after his 303 not out against England at home in 2016. The cricketer though has learned to take things patiently and had a word of encouragement from India ‘A’ coach Rahul Dravid who spent time with his home state team before the quarter-final.

“Just focus on what you can control and what you can do with your batting and your own game. As long as you’re doing the process right there will come a time when everything will fall into place,” Nair was quoted as saying by CricketNext.

Karnataka takes on Saurashtra in their semi-final to reach the final. Nair, who is experienced in winning Ranji Trophy, is confident of overcoming the next hurdle as well. The game will be a top draw as heroes of the recent Australia series – Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal – will be competing in the opposite sides.

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