India's ODI vice-captain, Shubman Gill, feels it is unfortunate that Karun Nair could not find a place in the squad for the three-match series against England despite his remarkable form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Leading Vidarbha in the premier 50-over tournament, the right-hander scored 779 runs with a staggering average of 389.5.
Karun Nair's form was so remarkable that even Sachin Tendulkar took notice. Karun Nair recorded scores of 112*, 44*,163*, 111*, 112, 122*, 88*, and 27 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Shubman Gill, however, also said that players in the current squad have been in good form. He also cited the middle-order's form in the 2023 ODI World Cup, where India reached the final.
Hence, Gill believes that the current batters need to be stuck with as India have played just three ODIs after the 2023 World Cup final against Australia.
"He definitely performed very well in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. But you also need to consider who he would have replaced. The players in the current setup are already doing well. In the ODI World Cup, every middle-order batter scored 400-500 runs. We have just played three ODIs after that as a group," Shubman Gill told reporters ahead of the first ODI against England.
"No one has gotten a longer run. We lost the ODI World Cup final. If you leave out that performance, the entire team has been performing consistently. I think the players who are already there have been performing," he added.
‘Won’t be justice'
{{/usCountry}}"No one has gotten a longer run. We lost the ODI World Cup final. If you leave out that performance, the entire team has been performing consistently. I think the players who are already there have been performing," he added.
‘Won’t be justice'
{{/usCountry}}Shubman Gill also believes that a good team always back its players. He believes there is no reason to ask any of the current middle-order batter to sit out as everyone has performed consistently in ODI cricket.
"It is unfortunate that players who have done well in domestic cricket, were not able to find a place in the team. I strongly believe for any player to come in, there should be a place for them as well. It won't be justice if the player who is already performing, is asked to make the way," said Gill.
"Then we won't be able to form a consistent team. Every good team backs their players, and we don't want insecurity to creep in within our players," he added.
Coming back to Karun Nair, the batter is making full use of his red-hot form as he scored a century for Vidarbha in the second innings of the Ranji Trophy tie against Hyderabad.