New Delhi: Former India batter Aakash Chopra believes Karun Nair may no longer be in the reckoning for national selection after not being picked for India ‘A’ squad for multi-day games against Australia ‘A’, adding that the selectors appear to have moved on from him.
Nair, who returned to the Test fold after eight years during the 2-2 drawn Test series in England, failed to leave a strong impression – amassing 205 runs in four games at an average of 25.62. Though Nair got starts, he struggled to convert them into big scores, with his lone fifty coming in the fifth Test at The Oval.
“Why has Shreyas been elevated as the captain? It is because the No.3 and No.6 slots in Tests are still open. Sai Sudharsan and Easwaran are also in the squad, but Karun Nair is not there.”
“It is a big step because Karun asked for a second chance, and he was given that. I would say his performance was okay-okay. You can’t say that he grabbed that chance with both hands, but you can’t also say his performance was very ordinary either, that you should drop him suddenly.”
“He was moved up and down in the batting order, was sent at No. 3 and No. 6. Despite that, he scored a few runs, but got out in some places. I felt he would get a chance in the West Indies tour of India. Unfortunately, you might not see Karun Nair playing now. He is fit and then not picked. It seems that the selectors have decided to look past Karun Nair,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel on Sunday.
India ‘A’ will be captained by right-handed batter Shreyas Iyer, who wasn’t included in the squad for the upcoming Men’s T20 Asia Cup. Chopra felt it was interesting to see Iyer being included for ‘A’ team red-ball games, adding that a door for him has been opened for him to potentially be back in the Test side for games against the West Indies and South Africa.
“Shreyas is interesting. He was not picked for the Asia Cup, and there was a lot of backlash. Now he finds himself at the helm of India A team. Looking at the Indian team’s next few assignments, you would think that Shreyas will play two of the three formats.”
“He plays ODIs, and I think he would get a chance in Tests in the upcoming series against the West Indies and South Africa. The kind of pitches there are in India, I think, he will score runs. The door has opened up for him, and nicely,” he added.
(IANS)
