India and Vidarbha batsman Karun Nair is currently in sensational form in domestic cricket. The 33-year-old won the Vijay Hazare Trophy with some very consistent performances and claimed the right for the Indian team in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Nair’s scintillating form has raised buzz about his return to international cricket from various corners of Indian cricket. Former Indian cricketer WV Raman is one of them and feels that Karun Nair cannot be benched if he is selected in the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy.
Also read: ICC Champions Trophy 2025: India squad leaked! Rohit Sharma leads, Karun Nair out, Jasprit Bumrah In
“Karun Nair is not in his teenage years to be in reserve” – WV Raman
WV Raman was responding to a post where a user hoped that Karun Nair would be part of the Indian reserves traveling for the Champions Trophy. However, Raman felt that Nair should be in India’s first choice playing XI if selected.
The former India chief coach feels that he should not be picked at all, if there is no chance of him being included in the playing XI.
“#KarunNair is not in his teenage years to be on the bench and be watched by the team management. If he is selected, he plays with the form he is in or if there is no room for him, he should not be selected!” Nair posted on X (formerly Twitter).
#KarunNair he is not in his teenage years to be in the reserves and to be watched by team management. If he’s selected, he plays given the form he’s in or if there’s no place for him, he shouldn’t be selected! https://t.co/dD6m1Gp6yM
— WV Raman (@wvraman) January 17, 2025
Karun Nair’s crazy numbers in the Vijay Hazare Trophy
Karun Nair has been in fantastic form with the bat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. He has so far scored 752 runs in the tournament in seven innings at an incredible average of 752 and a strike rate of 125.96 with 5 hundreds and 1 fifty.
He scored 50 or more runs in six out of seven innings. In the only innings he did not reach fifty, he scored an unbeaten 44. Nair has recorded scores of 112*, 44*, 163*, 111*, 112, 122* and 88* this season. He has scored four consecutive hundreds this season which is a List A record.
The 33-year-old scored the highest no. runs in Lisa A cricket without dismissal. In the big semi-final against Maharashtra, Karun Nair smashed 88 off just 44 deliveries and showed his ability to score quickly.
The final will be played on January 18 between Karnataka and Vidarbha and it remains to be seen how Nair will fare in the big match. The Vidarbha captain will look to lead from the front and deliver another match-winning performance.
India Schedule for Champions Trophy 2025
India will begin their 2025 Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai. The men in blue will then face arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23. India’s last game will be against New Zealand on March 2.
India will play all their matches in Dubai after the Indian government did not give BCCI permission to send the team to Pakistan. As a result, the tournament will be played in a hybrid model.
