India and Vidarbha batsman Karun Nair is in sensational form right now in domestic cricket. The 33-year-old stormed the Vijay Hazare Trophy with extremely consistent performances and claimed the Indian squad in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Nair's extraordinary form has raised voices about his return to international cricket from various corners of Indian cricket. Former India cricketer WV Raman is one of them and feels that Karun Nair cannot be benched if he is selected in India's squad for the Champions Trophy.
“Karun Nair is not in his teens to be in the reserves” – WV Raman
WV Raman was responding to a post where the user hoped Karun Nair would be part of India's traveling reserves for the Champions Trophy. However, Raman felt that Nair should be in the first choice India Playing XI if selected.
The former India women's head coach feels that if there is no chance of including him in the Playing XI, he should not be picked at all.
“#KarunNair is not in his teens to be in the reserves and being watched by the team management. If he is picked, he plays to the form he is in or if there is no room for him, he should not be picked!” Nair posted on X (formerly Twitter).
#KarunNair he is not in his teens to be in the reserves and watched by the team management. If he's picked, he plays given the form he's in, or if there's no slot for him, he shouldn't be picked! https://t.co/dD6m1Gp6yM
— WV Raman (@wvraman) January 17, 2025
Karun Nair's crazy numbers in Vijay Hazare Trophy
Karun Nair has been in fantastic form with the bat in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. He has scored 752 runs in the tournament so far in seven innings at a staggering average of 752 and a strike rate of 125.96 with 5 hundreds and 1 fifty.
He scored over 50 points in six of seven innings. In the only innings in which he did not reach fifty, he scored an unbeaten 44. Nair has posted scores of 112*, 44*, 163*, 111*, 112, 122* and 88* this season. He has hit four consecutive hundreds this season, which is a List A record.
The 33-year-old scored the most no. of runs in Lisa A cricket without being fired. In the big semi-final against Maharashtra, Karun Nair smashed 88 off just 44 deliveries and showed his ability to score runs quickly.
The final will be played on January 18 between Karnataka and Vidarbha and it remains to be seen how Nair fares in the big match. The Vidarbha captain will look to lead from the front and produce another match-winning performance.
India's schedule in Champions Trophy 2025
India will begin their Champions Trophy 2025 campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai. The Men in Blue will then face arch-rivals Pakistan on February 23. India's last match will be against New Zealand on March 2.
India will play all their matches in Dubai after the Indian government did not give permission to the BCCI to send the team to Pakistan. As a result, the tournament will be played in a hybrid model.