“I’ve a bit of a soft corner for him” - Mohammad Kaif opens up on Karun Nair’s absence for West Indies Test series

Former Indian cricketer Mohammad Kaif has stated that he has a bit of a soft corner for the axed Indian batter Karun Nair, who scored a crucial fifty-plus knock against England in the fifth and final Test in the Anderson Tendulkar Trophy.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaif asserted that Nair’s 50-run knock played a crucial role as India went on to win the game by a narrow six-run margin. Moreover, he felt that Shubman Gill’s knocks in the series overshadowed Karun Nair’s consistent 30-40-run knocks.

“Look, I feel I have a bit of a soft corner for him because in that last Test match, it was a really tough pitch and a high-pressure game. If you look at India’s first innings score, his 50 runs were the highest. The next best was around 30. India had scored close to 200 in that innings, and out of that, 50 were from Karun Nair. We eventually won that Test by just six runs. In such a close game, where the margin was only six runs, Karun’s 50 in the first innings was very important,” Kaif said on his YouTube channel.

“And throughout that series, he was consistently scoring 30-40 runs. But at the same time, Shubman Gill was hitting double centuries, scoring hundreds, breaking records one after another. So, those 30-40 runs didn’t get much value or attention. On that England tour, a 30-40 didn’t seem significant. That’s why his crucial 30-40 runs didn’t get talked about much. But I felt in that difficult match to bat on, when we were under pressure and trailing 2-1 in the series, his contribution was vital. That’s why I think maybe he should have been given one or two more series,” he added.

Furthermore, Kaif also talked about Abhimanyu Easwaran not getting a chance in the Indian Test squad for the ongoing West Indies Test series. Interestingly, he got his maiden Test call-up in 2022 and is yet to make it to the playing XI.

“I mean, he stays in the Test squad. He becomes the 12th man, goes out to field, but doesn’t get a chance in the playing XI. So, I personally feel that when domestic players perform so well and then finally get their names in the Test squad, the example being set here isn’t right,” Kaif stated.

“On one hand, you say that performances in the Ranji Trophy and domestic tournaments matter, that you consider them seriously while picking the Test team, that selections for the XI are based on those performances. Karun’s comeback itself happened because of this because he scored heavily in domestic cricket,” he concluded.

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