Eight years after his Test career came to a halt in England, Karun Nair is back in the mix in the very country as India began a new chapter post the retirements of stalwarts — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, in red-ball cricket under new skipper Shubman Gill on Friday.
For Nair, the opportunity to script his redemption story begins now, as he finds himself in the Playing XI for the first Test in Leeds.
His journey back to the Indian dressing room has been one of grit, belief and relentless pursuit, a journey that, as the 33-year-old puts it, has now come full circle.
“Life has come to a full circle. I went out of the team in England, and now I am coming back to the team in England, so it has been a while, and I am trying to embrace that,” Nair said in a video shared by the BCCI.
Nair, whose last Test appearance came in 2017, said it was his unwavering belief and hunger to don the India whites again that fuelled his comeback.
“My first thought when I woke up was I want to play Test cricket, I want to play for India again. That’s probably what kept me going and kept me hungry, the driving force to go to training every day to go to practice every day. Never losing that belief and having that target to reach was something that helped me. Feeling honoured to wear this jersey and honoured to represent my country,” he said.
“Never losing that belief and having that target to reach was something that helped me. Feeling honoured to wear this jersey and honoured to be representing my country.
“When I saw everyone for the first time, that’s when I really, you know, felt it that I’m finally in the team. Till then it was like a wait for me to kind of start feeling like I’ve made it again. It’s been a few years, I used to always watch everyone on TV, now to be back again in this dressing room feels amazing. You know, getting that first session under the belt was relief, grateful to get that opportunity. Life has come a full circle because I went out of the team in England and now I’m coming back into the team in England. So it’s been a while and I’m trying to embrace that,” he added.
Nair’s road back to the national team was paved by consistent domestic performances. He was the standout batter for India A during the unofficial Tests against England Lions, including a superb double century in the first match at Canterbury. Before that, his domestic run with Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy was equally prolific, scoring 863 runs at an average of 53.93, followed by five centuries in just eight innings of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he averaged a staggering 389.50.
The Bengaluru-born batter is also relishing the opportunity to share the dressing room once again with familiar faces in KL Rahul and Prasidh Krishna.
“I try to keep it very simple, always think about the positive, have certain goals in mind, visualise things and have real belief in what you visualise. Playing alongside Rahul and Prasidh is also a very comforting factor. We’ve played cricket for so many years since probably we were young kids and grew up together,” he said.