Twitter consoles Karun Nair after being dropped from India’s Test squad
Published on: Sep 30, 2018 10:04 pm IST|Updated on: Oct 1, 2018 10:15 am IST
India announced the squad for the Test series against West Indies. Shikhar Dhawan was dropped from the team and it came as no surprise as he fared poorly in Test series against England. But surprisingly Karun Nair was dropped from the team as well. And Nair’s absence has stirred the cricket world. While former cricketers and analysts have questioned this decision, fans have sympathized with him on Twitter.
Nair dropped after warming benches
Nair was part of India’s Test squad for the England series but he wasn’t included in the team for any Tests. In the first four Tests, India played five batsmen and Hardik Pandya as an all-rounder and when the team finally played six batsmen, the opportunity was given to Hanuma Vihari. Nair, on the other hand, did nothing except for warming benches.
Also read: Harbhajan Singh surprised with the omission of this player from India’s squad
And now surprisingly, the selectors have dropped the right-hand batsman from the squad when technically he didn’t even get any chance to show his performance.
And I guess we will never know the reason why Karun Nair wasn't picked in England. I hope he begins afresh by scoring a mountain of runs in domestic cricket. It is never too late.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) September 29, 2018
Instead, the selectors have retained Hanuma Vihari who is prolific run-scorer in domestic cricket and was also impressive on his debut against England.
Nair reveals there was no communication from team management
Nair spoke with an online news portal after BCCI announced the squad for West Indies series. He admitted that there was no communication from the team management.
Also read: Twitter reactions to Mayank Agarwal’s maiden Test call-up
He said, “No, we haven’t had any conversations. Nothing at all. It is difficult, but I haven’t gone forth and asked anything, but yeah, we haven’t had any conversation.”
Twitter reacts to Nair’s exclusion
The decision of Nair’s omission was a surprise to cricket analysts as well as fans. And soon Twitter was flooded with reactions that sympathized with the right-hand batsman and also questioned selectors’ thinking process.
To borrow from Alice in Wonderland, Karun Nair’s case gets ‘’curiouser and curiouser’’…
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) September 30, 2018
There are two people I feel terrible for currently. Karun Nair, for being axed without being given a fair opportunity, and Shardul Thakur, who knows whatever he does, he will only warm the bench. Why pick him then?
— Shashank Kishore (@captainshanky) September 29, 2018
Spare a thought for Karun Nair. He’s lost out to Vihari in the race for the 6th batsman…..without even getting a chance to run. Sat out 6 Tests…dropped without getting a game. #IndvWI
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) September 29, 2018
Karun Nair sits out 6 Tests
Misses out on India A
Overlooked for Vihari (who is picked for India A scores)
Nair is dropped for WI Tests and has no fc cricket to win his spot back till Nov
So he misses playing v Eng, WI and Aus (?) with no chance to prove himself
Spare a thought— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) September 30, 2018
Karun Nair a triple Centurion left out of Test Squad ☹️
They should have retained him instead of picking 2 new openers. Pujara can open with Rahul if needed anyway. #INDvWI— ? ?????? (@KodelaDeepak) September 30, 2018
https://twitter.com/Jack13506522/status/1046080827057229830
To have someone come from India and take your place and have nothing communicated to you about it,can’t imagine how lonely that dressing room must have felt for Karun Nair. Shoddy treatment and playing around of career and mind of a player with a lot of ability.
— Kunal Kapoor (@kunalkapoor09) September 30, 2018