Stats: Karun Nair gets run-out on Test debut and joins the unfortunate club
After being in and out of the Test squad for the last two seasons, Karun Nair was hoping to finally spend a substantial amount of time getting the hang of being around the dressing room for the 5-match series against England. When a spate of injuries landed an unexpected Test debut on his lap, he walked out eagerly to turn the occasion into a memorable one.
Despite this being his maiden outing, the 24-year-old already had plenty on his hands as the visitors had prised out the vital scalps of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane within the space of 12 deliveries. India were still trailing by 131 runs at that stage with only six wickets remaining even as the thought of chasing a formidable fourth-innings target was beginning to cloud their minds.
Nair got off the mark in Test cricket with a free-flowing cover drive and must have been keen on playing a handy knock to help his team’s cause. However, in the very next over, Kohli set off for a non-existent single to which he did not have any choice but to comply.
Even as his skipper kept watching the ball and pulled out of the run at the eleventh hour, Nair was already half-way down the track. Though he tried to get back into his crease in desperation, Jos Buttler’s extraordinary throw caught him short.
Also Read: SK Play of the Day – Jos Buttler's stunning throw to dismiss Karun Nair
A moment which any batsman would have been looking for eventually ended in an unfortunate manner for the Karnataka batsman. But, he is not the first and probably won’t be the last, to suffer the same fate. Including him, as many as twelve Indian players have gotten run-out on Test debut.
Interestingly, Nair has a person in the dressing room who has gone through a similar experience. Although current coach Anil Kumble entered into the Indian team as a promising leg-spinner, he would go on to make numerous contributions from lower down the order and hence always took pride in his ability with the bat.
While eleven of the twelve instances were surprisingly against either West Indies or England, only the 60s and the 2000s did not witness such occurrences. When Kohli looks at the list below, he will find out that the names involved with the previous two dismissals have been Sachin Tendulkar and Sunil Gavaskar.
*Indian players who have been run-out on Test debut
| Dismissed Player | Year | Opposition | Venue | Batting Partner |
| KC Ibrahim | 1948 | West Indies | Delhi | Rusi Modi |
| Jayasinghrao Ghorpade | 1953 | West Indies | Trinidad | Madhav Apte |
| Chandu Borde | 1958 | West Indies | Bombay | GS Ramchand |
| Surendranath | 1959 | West Indies | Calcutta | Polly Umrigar |
| Abbas Ali Baig | 1959 | England | Manchester | Polly Umrigar |
| Parthasarathy Sharma | 1974 | West Indies | Delhi | Brijesh Patel |
| Kris Srikkanth | 1981 | England | Mumbai | Sunil Gavaskar |
| Ashok Malhotra | 1982 | England | Chennai | Pranab Roy |
| Navjot Singh Sidhu | 1983 | West Indies | Ahmedabad | Sandeep Patil |
| Raman Lamba | 1986 | Sri Lanka | Kanpur | Sunil Gavaskar |
| Anil Kumble | 1990 | England | Manchester | Sachin Tendulkar |
| Karun Nair | 2016 | England | Mohali | Virat Kohli |
(*All Statistics are accurate as of 27th November 2016)