Karun Nair Dealt a Dual Blow: Omitted from Champions Trophy and Misses out on Vijay Hazare Final Victory

New Delhi: Karun Nair's impressive Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign came to an end as he scored 27 runs in the final against Karnataka, just hours after being left out of Team India's Champions Trophy squad. Nair, the captain of Vidarbha, had been in outstanding form leading up to the final, scoring a total of 752 runs in seven matches. However, his innings was cut short by a wonderful delivery from pacer Prasidh Krishna. The ball kept low and swung back sharply, deceiving Nair and hitting the stumps.

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Big wicket

Prasidh Krishna gets the crucial wicket of Karun Nair #VijayHazareTrophy | @IDFCFIRSTBank

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Nair’s dismissal saw Vidarbha reduced to 88/2 while chasing 349 against Karnataka in the final. Earlier, Ravichandran Smaran smashed a century to power Karnataka to 348/6 in 50 overs. Krishnan Shrijith and Abhinav Manohar also scored half-centuries to propel Karnataka to a big total.

Meanwhile, Nair’s omission from the Champions Trophy squad will raise questions about the relevance for scoring heavily in domestic cricket. Head of BCCI’s selection committee, Ajit Agarkar, admitted that it was indeed tough to include Karun in a squad of 15 in the current situation.

“Yeah, it is tough. Those are really special performances. I mean, someone who averages – 700-plus, 750-plus. We did have a chat (about Karun),” Agarkar said in the press meet to announce the Indian squads here on Saturday.

“But at the moment, to find a spot in this team is very difficult. I mean, look at the guys who’ve been picked. All average well in excess of mid-40s.

“So, unfortunately, you can’t fit everyone in. It’s a squad of 15. But those performances (like Karun) certainly make you take notice,” he added.

So, what precisely is the team combination that Agarkar was talking about? In domestic cricket, Karun bats the highest at No. 3, and at times, comes at either No. 4 or 5, depending on the conditions.

However, those slots in the Indian team are occupied by Virat Kohli, a titan in one-dayers, Shreyas Iyer, who averages close to 50 in ODIs, and either KL Rahul, a proven, flexible 50-over batter who also keep wickets, or Rishabh Pant, an explosive left-handed batter and the first-choice stumper-batter.