Indian cricketer Karun Nair in action. (FILE photo)Stylish left-hander batter Devdutt Padikkal has made a comeback to the Indian Test team as the men’s senior selection committee, led by Aji Agarkar, announced a 15-player squad on Thursday for the two-match Test series against West Indies set to begin from 2nd October. The arrival of Padikkal in the side also saw the snub of another Karnataka batter, Karun Nair.
Nair, who received an India call-up after eight years for the England tour, blew hot and cold in the Anderson-Tendulkar series as he failed to impress the selectors, eventually missing out on his spot for the West Indies series. Former India cricketer Dinesh Karthik was pleased by the selection of Padikkal, saying the lanky top-order batter has the required skill to excel.
“I really feel Devdutt being given an opportunity is a good thing because he has got 80 in Australia (for India A last year). He’s got skills because Australia is a very hard place to play and he got runs there. And the England series last year, he got a 50 in Dharamsala. So he has earned his stripes. He got injured and that’s why Karun Nair came into the squad. Otherwise Devdutt would have been part of the squad from day one in England. So he has earned his recall into the Indian team,” he said on the Cricbuzz show.
Karthik said the selectors are moving on from Karun Nair, which is difficult for the 33-year-old batter.
“The fact that Karun Nair is not looked at anymore means they are moving on from him, which is very tough on him. I think he played in one of the toughest series on tough pitches. But in all fairness, he’ll look back himself and say, ‘Could I have scored more runs in a couple of innings at the start, in the first three Tests?’ Because in the last Test, he got a 50 on a tough pitch,” said Karthik.
“I can promise you if he was playing this series, he would get runs. It’s almost a given, the way he’s batting. The fact is they are saying, ‘Big series, we have him an opportunity and he didn’t deliver. So we move on to somebody young for the future’,” he added.
Nair had a disappointing England Test tour, only managing a total of 205 runs at an average of 25.62 across four matches, with only one half-century to show for his efforts
Earlier, Agarkar didn’t mince his words on Karun while announcing the team in Dubai. “Frankly, we expected a little more from Karun. He played four Tests, and you spoke about one innings. That’s the way it is. We feel Padikkal offers a little more at this point. Wish we could give everyone 15-20 Tests,” said Agarkar.
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