Karun Nair broke the CSK captain’s great record with 88* off 44 balls in the semi-final of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25.

Vidarbha captain Karun Nair continued his dream run with the bat by scoring an unbeaten 88 in the team’s 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy semi-final against Maharashtra on Thursday, January 16. During his knock, the right-hander broke the record for the most runs scored by a captain in a domestic 50-over tournament.

The previous record holder was the skipper of Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Ruturaj Gaikwadwho scored 660 runs in five innings in the 2022-23 season. Nair eclipsed Gaikwad during the semi-finals of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy, becoming the first captain to cross the 700-run mark in a single edition.

Karun Nair has been in the form of his life in the current season. He got out just once and amassed 752 runs in seven innings. The batsman needs to score 79 runs in the final to break Narayan Jagadeesan’s record of highest runs (830) in a single season.

After being asked to bat first, Vidarbha posted a daunting total of 380 runs. Openers Yash Rathod and Dhruv Shorey scored centuries, scoring 116 and 114 respectively. Karun Nair contributed 88 off just 44 deliveries with nine fours and five sixes.

Maharashtra finished on 311/7 after 50 overs, suffering a 69-run defeat in the knockout encounter. Arshin Kulkarni was the top performer with a knock of 90 runs. Darshan of Nalkanda and Nachiket Bhute took three wickets each.

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“He doesn’t have a tattoo, he doesn’t wear fancy clothes, is that why you don’t choose him?” – Harbhajan Singh unhappy with selectors ignoring Karun Nair

Former India player Harbhajan Singh has come down hard on the Indian selectors for ignoring Karun Narun despite his brilliant performances in domestic cricket.

Assessing that Nair deserves to be in the national team, Harbhajan said in his recent YouTube video [via Hindustan Times]:

“I look at his stats. In the 2024-25 season, he pitched six innings, didn’t get out of the game in 5, struck out 664 and that was his average. And he had a strikeout rate of 120. And he’s not being picked .. Various the rules for different people shouldn’t be the way they score, right?he has tattoos, he doesn’t wear fancy clothes, is that why you don’t pick him?

Karun Nair has played six Tests and two ODIs. He grabbed headlines with a 303-run knock against England in December 2016 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. However, he lost his place in the team after failing the next three exams.

We will now see him in action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 final against Karnatakahis former team. The summit will be held in Baroda on Saturday, January 18.