‘Never saw Karun play a bad shot in our nets’

Ranji Trophy-winning Vidarbha’s assistant coach Atul Ranade has revealed exactly what Karun Nair did over the last two years that helped him get noticed by national chief selector Ajit Agarkar’s selection committee ahead of the England tour. Nair, 33, is likely to make a comeback in India’s Test playing XI after a gap of eight years, in the five-Test series against England, starting at Leeds today. 
 
Ranade, 52, credited Nair’s self-belief and never-say-die attitude for his strong domestic performances.

“He [Nair] used to be very prompt and serious about his cricketing activities. If our practice started at 3 pm, he would be at the ground by 2 pm and finish his running by doing seven to eight rounds. He mixed easily with all the Vidarbha players and never behaved like he is an India player, who has scored a triple century in Test cricket,” Ranade told mid-day on Wednesday.

‘Hard work paying off’

Nair, who represented the country in six Tests, had scored an unbeaten 303 against England in the 2016 Chennai Test. He played a vital role in Vidarbha’s Ranji triumph last season, scoring 863 runs, which included four centuries. “I think his individual emphasises and hard work played a big part. He never missed his scheduled gym sessions and followed his diet strictly. I never saw him play a bad shot or do anything out of the box during net practice. He gave equal importance to catching and fielding sessions. That showed his mental toughness.

‘Calm and focused player’

“He is a very calm, determined and focused cricketer. He has that never-give-up attitude and always gives more than 100 per cent whenever the team needs him to go in the middle and score runs,” he explained about Nair, who has scored 8,470 runs in 116 first-class games, including 24 centuries. 

Speaking of Nair’s strong mindset, former Mumbai cricketer Ranade, acknowledged his sincere and rigorous approach. Interestingly, despite being dropped by 
Karnataka in 2022, the top-order batsman concentrated on his goal, said Ranade. “What happened in the past, he left it there and never discussed it. But he had that self-belief and was always starving and confident to perform well for Vidarbha, whether it is Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy or Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.”

When Nair returns home after the England tour, Ranade is expecting a party from him. “I used to tell him that he would soon play for India again. His reply was always prompt: ‘Sir, let me play first, then I’ll give you a party’. Now I’ll finally get a party from him after the England tour,” said Ranade, adding that Nair’s presence in the team helped Vidarbha players immensely as they built a winning mindset.

8470
No. of runs scored by Karun Nair in 116 first-class matches @ 49.82

This article first appeared on Mid Day