Karun Nair's comeback to the Test side after eight years isn't going according to plan. The right-handed batter has failed to set the stage on fire, and his dismissal in the second innings of the Lord's Test against England raised a lot of eyebrows. Nair, 33, was looking good at the crease, but out of nowhere, he decided to leave a straight delivery and was hit right on the pads off the bowling of Brydon Carse. The on-field umpire had no hesitation in raising his finger.
Karun Nair didn't bother to take the review. He eventually walked back to the hut after scoring 14 runs off 33 balls. Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who was on air for Sky Sports, didn't mince his words as he deemed it an “ordinary” leave, saying he doesn't know what “Karun Nair” was actually thinking.
The incident happened on the third ball of the 13th over, when Karun Nair made an error in judgment. A nip-backer struck the batter on the knee, and Nair shouldered his arms and was struck on the leg.
Karun Nair's wicket came completely out of the blue. The batter and KL Rahul were looking tremendously good at the crease, playing on the merit of the ball.
{{/usCountry}}Karun Nair's wicket came completely out of the blue. The batter and KL Rahul were looking tremendously good at the crease, playing on the merit of the ball.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking on air, Dinesh Karthik said, Karun Nair's going to limp off, what a breakthrough for England. Completely out of the blue, he was looking solid as always. The ball didn't do much, just came in straight. I don't know what he was thinking. Karun Nair expected the ball to probably swing away, but it didn't, just held its line, kept coming straight. Pretty ordinary leave, Brydon Carse loving it, it's an important wicket."
‘Strange leave from Karun Nair’
Former England captain Michael Atherton also echoed Dinesh Karthik's sentiments, saying it was totally a “strange leave” from Karun Nair.
The 33-year-old came back into the Test side after strong domestic cricket performances. He played the Headingley Test for India as he batted at No.6. However, in the next two matches at Edgbaston and Lord's, Karun Nair batted at No.3.
In the six innings he has played so far, Karun Nair has registered scores of 0,20, 31, 26, 40 and 14, aggregating 131 runs.
“It's a very strange leave from Karun Nair. Particularly at the end he's batting, the end Carse is coming in from is the pavilion end, so you know naturally the ball is going to run back in at you, down the slope. So it's an odd leave,” said Atherton.
“To make matters worse, he'll have a big bruise there in the morning because it hit him on the inside of the pad, so he had to hobble off,” he added.
During an interaction with JioStar after the close of play on Day 4, former India Test captain Anil Kumble also didn't hesitate to call out Karun Nair's "brain fade."
“India had a great chance; they did really well to restrict England to 192. Yashasvi Jaiswal played a poor shot. Once Karun Nair got out, and then Shubman Gill, it's slight advantage to England. It was a great opportunity for Karun; he did all the hard work. He did look good, I don't know, probably it was a brain fade,” said Kumble.
Speaking of the Lord's Test between India and England, the former concluded Day 4 at the score of 58/4 at the close of play, still needing 135 more runs for the win. KL Rahul is unbeaten on 33, and he will be joined by Rishabh Pant on the final day of the third Test.