Karun Nair

Karnataka have long been a batting reservoir for the Indian team and Karun Nair is yet another sensation from that list. A fluent strokemaker who relies a lot on touchplay than sheer power, Karun is a delight to watch when he gets going. Although originally from Kerala, his family were settled in Bangalore for years. A phenomenal debut season on the domestic circuit set the ball rolling for the young man as he plundered runs at will, becoming one of the star performers as Karnataka showed renaissance in the mid-2010s. Back-to-back Ranji and Vijay Hazare titles during the 2013-14 and the 2014-15 season saw the emergence of new batting stars from the state and Karun Nair was undoubtedly one of them, his triple hundred in the Ranji final of the 2014-15 season being a highlight.

Consequently the IPL contract happened as Karun got signed by Rajasthan Royals and then made his way into the India A side. At both places, his talent shone brightly and seemed like it was only a matter of time before he donned national colors. That happened in 2016 as he made his international debut on India's limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe where he featured in a couple of ODIs. In the same year towards the fag end, the Test debut also came in the home series against England and although the start wasn't great, he announced his arrival with a fantastic triple century in the same series. The sky was the limit for young Karun who had become only the second Indian after Virender Sehwag to score a triple century in Tests.

Although 2016 was a happening year for Karun professionally, he did nearly have a tragedy personally. During a visit to Kerala for a temple festival, he was a part of a group that went missing in a boat disaster, ultimately rescued by the locals. The triple century was definitely a pleasant shock for the young man but the aftereffects were huge. Expectations obviously soared and his form over the next few innings dipped. The fact that India were playing only five batsmen also meant he had to sit out at times, considering that he had initially made the XI in place of Ajinkya Rahane who was out due to injury. Following his removal from the Indian Test squad, Karun struggled considerably in the domestic circuit as well.The fall-out of being dropped from the national team was harsh on the young man and it began to take a toll on his batting. He would still churn out runs, but his form fell away drastically, leading to him getting dropped across all formats from the Karnataka team.

Karun though found a new lease of life after turning up as a professional player for Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 season. It turned out to be a new lease of life in Karun's career as he played a big hand, first in helping Vidarbha rech the final of the Ranji Trophy that season and in then helping them clinch the coveted trophy the next season. During the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy, Karun Nair amassed 752 runs, the run including a record breaking 542 runs without getting dismissed. While Karun's batting was back on track, he does remain in the fringes across several IPL franchises.