Karun Nair regrets failing for India at the wrong time

What's the story?

A scintillating start to his Test career turned a lot of heads, but call it the pressure of expectations, or a sudden dip in form, Karun Nair’s stocks fell as quickly as they had risen. The Karnataka batsman, who, after his record-breaking 303* against England, encountered a severe dry-spell during the Australia series, has given an insight into his recent troubled times with the bat.

"I will have to respect the decision of the team management and selectors. If I look back, I got a couple of starts which I feel I could have made into substantial scores. Those two starts I got were supposed to be converted, but you know that's how it goes for a batsman, sometimes you get starts and you are not able to convert them," he told ESPNCricinfo.

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Nair became only the second Indian to register a triple century in Tests during the Chennai Test last year, shattering a number of records on his way to the coveted landmark. However he could not capitalise on the golden start, following it up with scores of 26, 0, 23 and 5 in the Australia series.

He carried the poor run into the IPL as well, despite being made the captain of the Delhi Daredevils in the absence of an unfit Zaheer Khan for a few matches. He ended with an average of 21.61 this season.

The heart of the matter

Nair was dropped from the squad for the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, and will now travel with the ‘A’ team as captain for the four-day games in South Africa, the series giving him a chance to redeem himself.

Nair said that he has now shifted his focus on to the task at hand, as he prepares for a ‘new experience’, for he has never travelled to the country before and is yet to taste the playing conditions on offer there.

A hint of regret was obvious when he stated that he could have contributed with a few more substantial knocks when he had the chance, although he does consider himself fortunate enough to have been a part of the playing XI despite the intense competition for spots.

What’s next?

Nair will captain the A-side in the longer format for the two four-day games on August 12 and 19, with the first game set to be held at Benoni and the other one at Pretoria.

Author’s take

As Nair pointed out himself, the competition to secure a middle-order spot is a perennially tough task in the Indian batting line-up. Nair scored a triple hundred, something that only one other Indian had done in the last 80 years of Test cricket, but projected the sorry body language of a man burdened by the weight of expectations during his failures in the Ranchi and Dharamsala Tests.

Given that he is a proven domestic performer, and has the potential to rack up big scores, the team management could have kept him in the squad for the next series as well. A confidence boost at this juncture could have done him a world of good.