The Karun Nair conundrum: What next for him?
It isn't an easy time right now to be Karun Nair or anyone close to him, for that matter. It never is when a player is dropped, worse when done so without having gotten a chance to prove your worth. It's a bit like an aspiring job candidate being rejected without having had a crack at an interview despite having the credentials for the job.
Even worse, Nair had shown he deserved a shot after a run of good performances with India 'A' and forced his way back for a middle-order spot, only to never be given the opportunities he deserved on the tour of England.
However, even that did not make as much noise as the fact that another player- Hanuma Vihari- who was drafted in only for the last two Tests, got his debut and played ahead of him which was, for the want of a better word - baffling.
Nair's present scenario, where he finds himself out of the squad for the short Test rubber against West Indies is an interesting one. He finds himself in between those who made a small mark in the game and never became big and those who never made the cut.
He may have played just six matches so far in his Test career, but is already remembered by many as the man who made a triple hundred against England. How many can boast of for being remembered for that?
In the modern-day scenario where cricketers in India are judged and sometimes picked for what they do in the razzmatazz of the IPL, Nair is the complete opposite: a player who has done whatever little that he has through the heat and sweat of domestic cricket. The grind of the four-day game in India often takes the backseat but has on several occasions, been at the forefront for a player replicating individual success on the international stage.
VVS Laxman was once asked about the success behind the monumental 281 he made against Australia in 2001 and he said that because while representing Hyderabad he had faced a similar scenario, it helped him adjust mentally and react positively. It is, after all, a game between the bat and the ball if your mind is in order, isn't it?
Nair's triple hundred came on the back of a similar achievement he had mustered in no less than a Ranji Trophy Final against Tamil Nadu, that helped set up a win for his side.
Yet, right now, nobody in the team management seems to care. The appetite for runs that he possesses seems to be in a minority in comparison to the unknown crime he might have committed which is stalling his progress in international cricket.
What more can a man do when he doesn't know why he isn't getting selected? For starters, he could take a cue from a teammate he has played with for a few years now.
When Prithvi Shaw and Vihari were named in the squad for the last two Tests, one other man featured once again on the ignored list. Despite scoring heavily series-after-series, Mayank Agarwal did not get the nod. He could have given flabbergasting statements to the press, could have excluded himself from the upcoming tournaments or done anything else which would have shifted his focus away from the job at hand.
Instead, Agarwal did the only thing he should have done- get more runs. Playing for India 'B' he made a century and helped his side win. He took that form into the game against the Board President's XI against West Indies, made a 90 and got the well-deserved spot in the senior set-up for the series starting next week.
The lesson for Nair in this is simple: Get back. Buck up and score. Score as much as you can. Do everything you can to keep yourself in the minds of the selectors and critically the management's as well.
There's a chance India might pick a large squad for the tour of Australia, keeping its length in mind. Following the T20Is, they are set to play a four-match Test series, beginning on the 6th of December.
Two summers ago, it was in December that Nair reached his tallest peak. With some runs under his belt, maybe it will be December again that comes to his rescue.