Karun Nair deserves to come back, could take No.4 spot: Anil Kumble

Former Indian spinner and coach Anil Kumble feels Karun Nair deserves to make a comeback to the Indian team. Furthermore, he felt Nair could be the ideal choice to replace Virat Kohli at No.4 in the Indian team in the longest format of the game.

Notably, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired from Tests ahead of the England tour. On the other hand, Nair last played for Team India in March 2017, and he has been in exceptional form, scoring important runs in domestic cricket. 

"Karun deserves to come back into the Indian team with the kind of domestic run he has had. So perhaps he could be the No.4 for India because I feel you need a bit of experience. You need someone in England who has been there and done that. He has played County cricket, so he knows the conditions. Karun may be on the other side of 30, but he is still young. If he gets an opportunity, there will be a lot more hope for youngsters to play first-class cricket. If the sheer performance in domestic cricket doesn't get recognised, it becomes a bit of a challenge," Kumble told ESPNcricinfo.

For the unversed, Nair played an important role in Vidarbha’s successful stint in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season, ending the edition as the fourth-leading run-scorer of the season, accumulating 863 runs from 16 innings at an average of 53.93 with four centuries and two fifties.

Furthermore, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 season, he racked up 779 runs from eight innings at an exceptional average of 389.5 and a strike rate of 124.04 with five centuries and a fifty. Moreover, he had a decent Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 season as well.

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