India's veteran batter Karun Nair has finally spoken out about his exclusion from the Test squad for the upcoming home series against the West Indies. Nair stated that he is 'absolutely disappointed' about not being named in the squad for the two-match Test series scheduled to be played in October.
Nair had recently made a comeback to the Indian Test team after more than eight years during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. This recall was a result of his stellar and persistent performances in domestic cricket. Specifically, Nair delivered impressive results across formats for Vidarbha, playing a key role in their third Ranji Trophy triumph.
His last domestic season was undeniably strong where he scored 863 runs in 16 innings in the Ranji Trophy, including four centuries, at an average of 53.93, essentially forcing the selectors to recall him to the Test team. He also shone in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, accumulating 779 runs in eight innings, in addition to playing some good knocks for the Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2025.
Karun Nair began the England tour strongly, scoring a brilliant 204 in a tour match against the England Lions in Canterbury. However, he was unable to translate that success into the main series. His form then took a sharp downward turn, as he managed to score only 205 runs in 8 innings at a disappointing average of 25.62. Following these underwhelming performances, he was not included in the India A squad for the unofficial Tests against Australia A.
Karun Nair's reaction on his snub from India's Test squad for WI series
On Thursday, September 25, his exclusion was finalised when he was dropped entirely from the Test squad. Speaking at a press conference, chief selector Ajit Agarkar confirmed that the selectors had expected better performances from Nair, and his poor outings ultimately led to his axing from the team.
As anticipated, Karun Nair was clearly not a happy man after being dropped from the Test team following just one series.
"Yes, I did expect the selection. I don't know what to say. No words. I don't have any much comments to make. It's very difficult for me to answer,' Nair told Times of India.
Nair's best performance on the England tour came after he was initially snubbed for the fourth Test but then brought back for the series finale in London. In that crucial first innings, he slammed 57 runs, a pivotal contribution since no other batter in the lineup managed to cross the 30-run mark. His knock proved key to India ultimately winning that game by six runs to level the series. Nair took the opportunity to remind everyone of that match-winning fifty, stating that he made "some good contributions with the bat" during his time on the tour.
"You should probably ask the selectors on what they're thinking. Only thing is, in the last Test match also, I got a 50 when no one else scored in the first inning. So, yeah, I thought I contributed to the team and especially in the last game that we won. But yeah, it is what it is. Those things don't matter," Karun added.
The 33-year-old batter further stated that he is now looking forward to getting back on the grind and performing in domestic cricket.
"There's nothing much I can say. There's nothing much that I can do to change anything. So, yeah, I just have to keep going. At least from my point of view, not from others' point of view. In my head, I'm very clear. I did my best they have made the decision and you have to respect that. Now I'm just going to play Ranji Trophy," Karun added.
India's squad for Test series against West Indies:
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K L Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N. Jagadeesan (WK), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav.