“If at all it happens, this will be my third comeback” – Karun Nair creates 'one more chance' [Exclusive]

Karun Nair was a man in love. He was waking up every day with a smile on his face, strut in his walk. Less than a month after his India debut, in his third Test, he became only the second Indian to score a triple hundred. He was living a dream; he was making others dream.

But it soon turned out to be a rude awakening. The ship of dreams hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage. Just three more Tests later, he was dropped.

He hasn’t played for India since the final match of the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

“First of all, it’s been a long time. I have selective memory; I tend to remember things…I don’t know how to differentiate them. But if I think back, I would say that I bottled up the disappointment of not playing after scoring 300 and all of that. You have those little disappointments which you are not able to share with people,” Karun Nair says in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.

“I also wasn’t as open as I am today. Otherwise, there’s nothing else. I always wanted to make sure I got better every day and got back into the team. That’s all I have been trying for the last few years,” he adds.

Hard work never goes to waste. For Karun Nair, the apotheosis came eight summers later. The cricket world was rooting for his India comeback following a stellar domestic season.

Nair scripted a List A record for the most runs without getting dismissed. He finished the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy with 779 runs at an average of 389.50. He further helped Vidarbha win the Ranji Trophy for the third time. The 33-year-old stroked 86 and 135 in the final against Kerala, accumulating 863 runs with four centuries in the edition.

“It’s a good feeling, it’s a proud feeling. But at the same time, you need to keep a level head and focus on what your job is for the next day or the next game. It’s really nice to get this kind of attention – I feel very fortunate and blessed – but my full focus is on the next match, on the next innings, and how I can contribute to the team,” Karun Nair said.

The clamour for Nair’s inclusion gained momentum, even more so after India’s 1-3 thumping in Australia. If not the 2025 Champions Trophy, the home England series preceding it seemed a realistic chance. But the redemption arc fell just short of completing a full circle.

“Quite honestly, it’s nice to hear people talk about you. But all that was running in my head was, ‘I need to perform well in the next game as well and make sure that the team wins again.’ Other than that, nothing else was on my mind. I wanted to just keep performing in every single game and enjoy the game and not keep any expectation from anyone or any outcomes in mind,” Karun Nair stated.

There’s a fine line between being hopeful and expectant. But once we suffer heartbreak, we try to stay as much in the present as possible; we tend to be cautiously optimistic. The simple joys in life suddenly get accentuated.

“You just have to focus on playing the game because you love the game. That’s the whole reason why you started playing the game, right? So you need to go back to thinking that way and play just for the love of the game, and enjoy the game as much as you can. You need to take it one day at a time, one game at a time,” he opined.

Karun Nair has been lighting up one match after another. He smashed 89 off just 40 balls for the Delhi Capitals a month back. It was his first IPL game in three years.

It all started exactly a year back, though, when Northamptonshire recalled him for a second stint. He played three matches in the 2023 season, notching up a half-century and a 150.

“I just wanted to gather as much experience as I could, like I did last year. It gave me a lot of confidence last season. So, this year too, in my head, I wanted to do the same – try and be out there in the middle as long as I could and give myself the best chance to learn more about my game in those conditions and become better playing there. That was my only goal when I went there. And at the same time, I also wanted to make sure my team benefitted from my contributions,” he stated.

After scoring 57 in the very first outing versus Sussex, Karun Nair topped his county highest with an unbeaten 202 off 253 balls against Glamorgan. While he couldn’t convert any of his subsequent starts, he was content with adding more arrows to his quiver while polishing the existing ones.

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‘Maharaja’ of the country

Karun Nair led the Mysuru Warriors to the 2024 Maharaja Trophy title

Coming from the freezing East Midlands, Karun Nair couldn’t hit the ground running in balmy Bengaluru for the 2024 Maharaja Trophy.

“I had some time off after the county season. I came back at the end of May and Maharaja didn’t happen till the second week of August. So I had a couple of months at home. Because I had a long season and my season ended only when the county matches got over, I wanted to take a break. So I took a break for some time, and maybe that’s why I was a bit rusty at the start of the Maharaja,” he told Sportskeeda.

And like so many of his third matches, Nair found the groove against the Gulbarga Mystics. Even though he lost the last-ball thriller, the 66 off 35 deliveries set the ball rolling for him and the Mysuru Warriors. They won the next three games as their captain swept the Player of the Match awards.

“For me, the most important thing was getting those runs in that match and doing well for the team. I took a lot of confidence out of that. And about training, nothing different as such – just a lot more intense and a lot more specific on the shots that I wanted to improve, and even trying to keep playing the shots I was good at.

"But eventually, you will get the confidence by playing those shots in the match. It doesn’t matter how much you practice in the training sessions. So it’s all about execution at the end of the day and I was able to do that a lot more this season,” Karun Nair elaborated.

For the shy and reticent vibes he exudes, Nair is extremely competitive and passionate. It came to the fore when he took on Jasprit Bumrah in the Mumbai Indians game, literally.

So when the Mysuru Warriors made their second successive final, Karun Nair did not want to just win the title but bury the spectre of the previous season.

“Last season, we were in a good position and I threw my wicket away, and it was really difficult to move on. So I wanted to make sure that I played as long as I could this season to get a good total for the team. And when you have the backing of the support staff, the owners, the franchise, you want to always go that one step further for the team. It was always there at the back of my mind that we fell short last year, so we needed to make sure that we played well and won it this year,” he said.

This time, there was a fairytale end. Karun Nair led by example with 66 off 45 balls to pip Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal’s Bengaluru Blasters to the Maharaja title. He also collected the Player of the Tournament award for amassing 560 runs, striking at 181.22.

One thing past has taught him is the need to move on. He also understands holding on to things – both good and bad – does more harm than good. In an otherwise fickle world, he has found a constant in his two adorable children and a beautiful family.

“In the middle of a season, it’s really difficult to keep hanging on to things. It’ll only make it more difficult and challenging for you to play. I tend to just try and forget about what’s happened. Yes, you take the experiences from what happened in the previous game and make sure you don’t make the same mistakes in a new game. I also spend a lot of time at home in between games – come back, spend a few days with family and again go back. So that kind of coming and going lets you forget about the game better,” Karun Nair explained.

What he didn’t forget easily was the quarterfinal loss to eventual champions Mumbai in the 2024-25 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Vidarbha scored 221, almost won it, before surrendering in the death overs. Karun Nair was still hurting when, only 10 days later, he rocked up to the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

“There was a lot more hunger and determination because we lost that quarterfinal. I thought we should have won it, especially after setting a good total. So there was a lot of disappointment in that, but it was the end of the tournament for us and we wanted to make sure we started well in the Vijay Hazare,” he stated.

Batting at No. 3, he started extremely well and stayed in the fast lane right till the end. The Vidarbha captain soon shattered James Franklin’s record (527) for the most runs without getting dismissed in List A cricket. His scores read: 112* (108) vs Jammu & Kashmir, 44* (52) vs Chhattisgarh, 163* (107), 111* (103) vs Tamil Nadu, 112* (101) vs Uttar Pradesh.

“Quite honestly, it only hit me after the match against UP when I got a lot of messages saying I had broken some kind of record. Until then, I didn’t really realise. Obviously I knew I was staying not out, but it didn’t get into my head that much because I was focused only on what I could do in the next game and making sure the team won,” Karun Nair said, retaining some of the astonishment.

And there was more to come. He stroked 122 from 82 deliveries in the quarterfinal against Rajasthan and followed it up with a 44-ball 88 versus Maharashtra in the last four. Vidarbha were in the final, having won all eight matches; Nair was 752 runs from his previous dismissal.

Seven innings, five centuries, unbeaten in all of them. But how is the pressure of expectation of continuing in the same vein?

“The pressure and expectations are only off the field. When you are sitting by yourself in your room, that’s when you kind of feel it. You are always thinking about it, right? But it’s important to get on the ground and leave all that behind and focus on the task at hand. Like I said, my process was very clear this year.

"When I started getting runs, I had to make sure I followed the same process every single time and just kept reminding myself what works and what doesn’t. So it was quite simple for me to go out there and just watch the ball and play the ball,” Karun Nair explained.

He didn’t sleep well at all before the Vijay Hazare final. Dehydration and a nagging “unwell” feeling had him tossing and turning through the night. It was a harbinger of later events.

Karun Nair finally got out, castled by Prasidh Krishna for 27 off 31 balls. And Vidarbha faltered at the final hurdle. That he ran his childhood mates close but eventually lost, must have pinched that bit harder.

“I played Karnataka a few times in the last couple of seasons. The first couple of times, it was weird to play against your friends or teammates you played with for a long time. But this year, it was the final and it was all about winning the game, and I always play to win the game.

"I wanted to win the game very badly, and I was playing well too. I got a start again but couldn’t convert it. And you obviously feel bad when you’ve lost an important final. But both teams played superbly to reach the final and the better team on the day won. So all you can do is congratulate the other team,” he reflected.

Karun Nair in the 2024-25 domestic season:

Tournament	Innings	Runs	Highest	Average	Strike rate	50s	100s
County Championship	11	487	202*	48.70	69.37	3	1
Maharaja Trophy	12	560	124*	56.00	181.22	5	1
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy	6	255	77	42.50	177.08	3	0
Vijay Hazare Trophy	8	779	163*	389.50	124.04	1	5
Ranji Trophy	16	863	135	53.93	49.59	2	4

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"You try not to have too many expectations" - Karun Nair

Karun Nair became the second Indian to score a triple hundred in Tests on December 19, 2016

You think of Karun Nair and you recall him cutting Adil Rashid for four and pulling the helmet off to celebrate a historic feat in the Chennai sun. You think of what happened after and try to empathise with him. People still remember him as ‘the one who disappeared after scoring a triple century.’

While Nair became a household name overnight, there were other names that established themselves in the national setup. Did the team management give any such indication?

“Nothing, nothing really. I got my Test cap from Sir Sunil Gavaskar, and it was one of my proudest moments in my life and career. The feeling was just of happiness and satisfaction. I wanted to do well for myself and the team,” Karun Nair continued in the 20-minute chat with Sportskeeda.

He found a place in the high-profile Border-Gavaskar Trophy early next year. But 54 runs at an average of 13.50 from three Tests made for a grim reading. He still aggregated more than his captain Virat Kohli, and would have hoped to make amends in the next series. But he was omitted when India went to Sri Lanka in July, and also when the Islanders returned towards the end of the year.

Nair went back to the domestic grind and accumulated 612 runs at an average of 68 with three centuries to boot in the 2017-18 Ranji Trophy.

“I got runs in the next season, and then I went to England, before getting dropped again. If at all it happens, this will be my third comeback. Obviously, you are younger at that time, you are more vulnerable to those kinds of situations. The disappointments are a lot more when you are younger. But now, when you learn to deal with those disappointments, you try not to have too many expectations,” he philosophised.

The fall from grace and “bottling up the disappointment” affected his performances, too. But after a couple of quiet seasons, he bounced back as the Ranji Trophy resumed after a one-year Covid-induced hiatus. Nair stroked 291 runs at a stunning average of 72.75 from five innings, even as Karnataka crashed out in the quarterfinals.

But it was the beginning of yet another ‘even after’ tale. His home state inexplicably dropped him from all formats the following year.

“I don’t know the story,” Karun Nair laughed wryly.

It was during this time that his tweet, asking cricket for one more chance, exploded.

“Like you said, after averaging 72, you should be asking these questions to not me but people at KSCA. But no one really questioned that. Anyway, it’s not something for me to comment upon because I really don’t know what the story was. Obviously when you don’t get an opportunity for one full season and you are staying at home, it’s quite difficult, and then you have to look at other options. My decision was quite clear after I didn’t play any format,” he added.

He made the painful exit from his childhood base and switched allegiance to Vidarbha.

Despite hardly putting a foot wrong, things weren't going right for him on the franchise circuit either. Having once captained the erstwhile Delhi Daredevils, Karun Nair played only eight IPL matches across the last six seasons.

He has been the highest run-getter in back-to-back editions of the Maharaja Trophy. For Vidarbha, in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, he has scored 473 runs at a healthy average and strike rate of 39.42 and 164.80, respectively. The Lucknow Super Giants roped him in as KL Rahul’s replacement in 2023, but no one raised the paddle for him in the following auction.

“It’s obviously frustrating. But again, like I said, I have grown older and I have learnt how to deal with disappointments and not have too many expectations. It feels bad for a few days, but then you get back on your feet and do everything that you can to get better and get back in the scheme of things. That’s what I’ve always told myself, and I’ve worked really hard every single day,” he expressed.

The recurring theme across this conversation with Karun Nair was of a jilted lover taking it one day at a time. He has been working on himself and prioritising the things that give him only happiness. There are fleeting moments when we once again want to plunge into the waterfall, hoping to meet the ocean. But, there’s the niggling fear of hitting a rock.

If that December 2016 Test match elevated him to instant success, he has since built the steps to accomplishment. From not getting to play any domestic cricket, he won the Ranji Trophy for the third time and was adjudged Player of the Match in the final. He took the Gulbarga Mystics to the Maharaja title and overcame the 2023 heartbreak. If IPL was an afterthought, he has become one of the faces of the Delhi Capitals this season.

Karun Nair is deservingly back on the national fringes, picked for India A, seven years after leading the side against the same England Lions.

And yet, the jigsaw isn’t complete. With the senior India squad for the England tour to be announced soon, you can’t help but think of it, again almost expect "one more chance."

“Like I said, I have very selective memory and I tend to remember only good things unless I really sit and think about something. So I just try and enjoy, and having that selective memory helps forget both good and bad things very quickly,” he concluded.

With Karun Nair, there's always more - more hunger, more dedication, more hours, more maturity, more pragmatism, more vocal, more runs and, definitely, more chances. He might have begged cricket for one more chance, but he has definitely created that for himself and has become worthy of many more.

The story that began against England, the comeback trail that originated in the United Kingdom, is awaiting redemption in the same country.

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