Karun Nair is ready to return to the test side after a gap of 7 years, but it will not be a cakewalk for him to fill in Virat Kohli’s shoes 4 number 4
Karun Nair is set to end the seven -year -long wait to return to the Indian test team in the upcoming series against England. The Vidarbha batsman made his Test debut against England in 2016, to score a triple-handrade in the same year, to be dropped from the edge only after a few more games. Now, he is ready to make his comeback. But do not make any mistake, work in hand is not an easy for Nair.
How to fill Nair in Virat Kohli zero?
Karun is expected to play at number 4 in the Test series against England, a situation that was earlier by Virat Kohli. The former Indian captain announced his sudden decision to retire from tests in May and took everyone surprised, making them a zero in the middle order. Kohli has scored most runs in his test career (7564 runs on average 50.09) Batting at number 4.
No other Indian batsman in the current line-up is close to Virat in terms of his record at number 4. And this will make Karun’s life difficult.
In six trials, Nair has managed to score bus 374 runs, Which includes only one triple hundred against Australia in Chennai. Batting at number 5, 321 runs have been scored by the batsman and the remaining number 6. One must remember that it is about 7 years ago.
After being dropped from the Indian test side, Nair went back to play domestic cricket. After a sluggish 2022, he played the County Championship for two sessions, allowing him to regain his form and confidence. He then performed continuously in the domestic tournament including Ranji Trophy 2023/24, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Ranji Trophy 2024/25.
He ended as the highest run gate in VHT, gathered 779 runs from 9 matchesRanji Trophy in 2024/25, he ended with 690 runs in his name, average 40.98. This was followed by an advertisement decent PL 2025 season, where he scored 198 runs in 8 matches.
In a series against England Lions in India, he scored a dual century in 1 informal test, followed by a 40 and 15 to strengthen his case for a place in XI, India in England Tests.
Given his red-hot form and his red ball cricket experience, Karun can be the best man to fill Virat Kohli’s shoes at number 4. However, this will not be an easy task and will definitely be under immense pressure.
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