Karun Nair, the find of the India vs England series plays for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy. He comes from the same state which has produces the likes of Rahul Dravid, who has served the country for years. Karun has played under Dravid’s guidance and that reflects clearly in his approach towards game. Karun Nair’s unbeaten 303 on Monday put India in a strong position to put England’s batting under test in the final game. He was supported from the other end by Ravichandran Ashwin, who scored 67 runs, and Ravindra Jadeja, who contributed with 51 runs. The joint efforts propelled India to 759 in the first innings, giving them a crucial lead of 282 runs.
The unbeaten 303 by Karun is the highest individual score by an Indian batting at number 5 in tests. Further it is the highest ever total by India at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. While Karun Nair’s triple century has made him an overnight star not many knew about the rookie batter before the Chennai test.
We at The SportRush bring to you the key highlights of his cricketing career so far:
- Karun was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan but Nair represents Karnataka in domestic cricket.
- Karun made his Ranji debut in the 2013-14 season. He played six matches in the season scoring three centuries. This included a 151 not out.
- Karun’s first IPL franchisee was Royal Challenger Bangalore.Nair was picked the team for the fifth edition in 2012, however he got only 2 games to play in the tournament.
- He was instrumental in Karnataka’s Ranji win in the 2013-14 season. He hit centuries in three successive Ranji matches, in the 2013-14 season. This including the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. Further he also hit the winning six that ended Karnataka’s 15-year-wait for a Ranji title.
- Delhi Daredevils picked him up in the 2016 auction.
- Karun is an avid runner. He used to run a minimum of 10 rounds of the Chinnaswamy Stadium. However post a knee injury he had to reduce the number of laps he used to normally run.
- Nair credits Rahul Dravid a great deal for his development. “To get insights on the game from someone as great as Rahul sir is something that most cricketers only dream of and I am lucky to have spent time with him” Nair once said.
- For Karnataka in the last of the Ranji Trophy in 2014-15, he made 328 in 560 balls making many records. He batted from late on the main day till at an early stage the fourth day. Karnataka made 762 and beat Tamil Nadu by an innings and 217 runs.
- His record 328 against Tamil Nadu is the most elevated ever singular score in the Ranji Trophy, breaking a 68-year-old record held by Gul Mohammad’s 319 for Baroda v Holkar at Vadodara in the 1946-47 season.
- Nair had a close call as the snake watercraft in which around 100 people were voyaging, inverted in stream Pampa in Kerala in July 2016. Speaking about this incident, Karun Nair, said, “I didn’t know how to swim. People there rescued me and I was lucky enough to live again.”
