Ignored for Duleep Trophy final, Karun Nair leaves squad for 'personal reasons' and smashes century for KSCA's Secretary XI

A proven domestic cricket performer, Karun Nair was left out of the South Zone squad for ongoing Duleep Trophy 2026 final. A disgruntled Nair left the squad citing personal reasons only to head back to home and score a century for KSCA Secretary's XI in the ongoing K Thimmappaiah Memorial tournament in Bengaluru. 

At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, he scored 104 runs from 193 balls against Chattisgarh. The century came after Nair wasn't picked to play in South Zone's semifinal or the final clash under captain Tilak Varma. His knock featured 12 fours and a six.

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South Zone coach Vikram Verma explained why Nair was left out. Shaik Rasheed retained his place in the side despite a duck and one run in the semifinal against North Zone. Verma said that with arrival of an in-form Devdutt Padikkal for the final, Nair did not fit the team combination.

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"Actually, we went with a good combination because every team has two left-hand spinners. So, we thought a left-hand batter in the middle order would give us a good chance to dominate them," said South Zone coach Vikram Verma.

"So again, we thought about what is best for the team. Now since Devdutt Padikkal has come back, the team combination matter was there. It is very difficult to miss him (Karun) out, but that's the combination we have."

After getting dropped, Nair wrote a mail citing personal reasons to travel back home. The 34-year-old even replied to a post criticising the selection of South Zone. He wrote: "Inexplicable would be an understatement" with a laughing emoji.

Nair’s numbers in Ranji Trophy 2025-26

Nair was Karnataka's second-highest run-scorer in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season. From 13 innings, he scored 699 runs at an average of 58.25, including two tons and three fifties.

South Zone in deep trouble

Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan-led East Zone piled on 708 runs in first two days. Kishan scripted history with a 270-run knock while Kumar Kushagra scored a century. Varma-led South Zone face an uphill task to score more than 708 runs to have a chance of winning the title on the basis of first innings lead.