“Life has come a full circle” - Karun Nair ahead of the first Test vs England

As India takes on England in the first Test of the five-match series against England, starting on June 20 at Headingley, Leeds, the comeback man Karun Nair has opened up, stating that life has come to a full circle after being dropped from the Indian squad in England to making a comeback in England after eight years.

Notably, Nair is expected to make it to the playing XI after impressing everyone in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season for Vidarbha. Moreover, he had an excellent time for India A, scoring a double century against England Lions in the first unofficial Test ahead of the five-match series.

“Life has come full circle because I left 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,” said Nair ahead of the first Test to BCCI.tv. 

“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, go to training every day, go to practice every day. I had a goal of wanting to play Test cricket again and I was always looking at playing Test cricket and every day, every morning I used to wake up thinking what should I do to reach that goal,” he added.

Notably, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announcing Test retirements ahead of the England tour, the BCCI selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, has named Shubman Gill as the new Test captain. Karun Nair would be eager to fill the void in the middle-order after the veteran duo’s retirements.

“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 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 a relief, grateful to get that opportunity,” Nair stated.

It’s important to note that Karun Nair accumulated 863 runs in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season, the fourth-highest in the tournament. Moreover, he led the run-scoring charts in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, racking up 779 runs. 

Thanks to Karun Nair’s impressive form, Vidarbha went on to emerge as champions in the Ranji Trophy, runners-up in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, and quarterfinalists in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) in the 2024-25 tournaments. However, Nair is set to leave Vidarbha for Karnataka due to personal reasons for the upcoming domestic season.

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