India's veteran batter Karun Nair is set for his Test comeback. Ahead of the first Test of the five-Test series in England, Nair has recalled a time when a prominent cricketer called him and advised him to retire. The undiscolsed prominent cricketer felt that Nair could retire and play in leagues which will make his future secure. However, Nair did not give up on himself and continued to work hard and make his comeback.
“I still remember a prominent Indian cricketer calling me and saying you need to retire because the money in these leagues would make me secure,” Nair said in an interview with the Daily Mail.
“It would have been easy to do, but I knew that regardless of the money, I would be kicking myself for giving up that easily,” the 33-year-old added.
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Nair also said that he knew he has it in himself to represent India again.
“I was never going to give up on playing for India again. That was just over two years ago and look where we are now. It’s crazy but deep down, I knew I was good enough,” he said.
After getting dropped from Karnataka's Ranji side, Nair joined Vidarbha. In Ranji Trophy 2024-25, Nair played a huge role in Vidarbha winning their third title by beating Kerala in the final. Interestingly, Nair had offered himself to play for Kerala a few years ago but nothing was finalised.
When Dravid, Ganguly messaged Nair after County success
Apart from playing in the Ranji Trophy, Nair also took the County cricket route. As Nair did well for Northamptonshire, he got congratulatory messages from former India captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.
"I remember standing on the balcony and soaking it in and thinking about everything that had happened five years before and how it had to come back full circle. With the happiness involved, it’s my most satisfying innings because I knew it was all about coming here and scoring runs. When you score runs in county cricket, people in India take note and listen. People like Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly all messaged me to say congratulations," Nair revealed.
Nair in right direction upon comeback
While there is a question mark over whether Nair will bat at no.3 or no.4, he has made an impact upon landing on England soil. He scored a double century for India A against England Lions and has been backed by head coach Gautam Gambhir to get a proper run upon comeback.