India and Vidarbha Karun Nair are in very good form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (India's domestic 50-over tournament). Nair currently has a staggering average of 752 on the tour and has been dismissed only once.
His consistency has prompted the national selectors to consider including him in India's squad for the Champions Trophy. However, former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik has other thoughts and feels that the Champions Trophy squad is almost ready to go.
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Dinesh Karthik breaks his silence on Karun Nair's inclusion in the Champions Trophy
During a segment on Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik shed light on Karun Nair's recent batting form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and was very impressed with him. However, he feels that India's ODI squad is almost ready and will not see any surprise changes, thereby ruling out the possibility of Nair's inclusion.
“Karun Nair, it was unreal to see the shape you were in. Even Mayank Agarwal was in very good form. But the beauty is that it comes at a stage where the Indian ODI setup is almost ready to go. There can't be too many changes,” said Karthik.
Karthik believes Nair made the selectors consider him for the Champions Trophy. However, he did not rule it out as he is a great player of both pace and spin.
“Yes, it is very tempting to bring a Karun Nair into the set-up and I think he has earned his right to be part of the discussions. But I don't think he will make the Champions Trophy squad,” observed Karthik.
“But if it continues like this, why not? An in-form batsman like that who plays fast and spins well, he is a weapons player and I am very happy for him,” he added.
Karun Nair's Crazy Numbers in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025
Karun Nair has scored 752 runs in seven innings so far at an average of 752 and an incredible strike rate of 125.96. In eight matches, he scored five hundreds and one fifty.
In the only innings in which he did not score a fifty, he hit an unbeaten 44 against Chhattisgarh. It is also the lowest score of the season so far. He recently scored 88 off just 44 balls in the semi-final against Maharashtra to guide Vidarbha to the final.
Vidarbha will now face Karnataka, Nair's former domestic team, in the final. Karun Nair has looked extremely fluent throughout the tournament against both pacers and spinners. He used all his experience and made a strong claim to be part of India's squad for the Champions Trophy.
India's schedule in Champions Trophy 2025
India will begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Bangladesh on February 19 in Dubai. The Men in Blue will next face Pakistan in a high-voltage clash on February 23 at the same ground.
India's final match will be against New Zealand on March 2. India will play all their matches in Dubai in the tournament hosted in a hybrid model. The Indian government did not allow BCCI to send its team to Pakistan.