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Karun Nair's Coach Praises His Mental Strength; Fumes At RCB For Ignoring Him In IPL

Arnav Chopra

Karun Nair (Source: @IPL/X.com)Karun Nair (Source: @IPL/X.com)

After failing on six consecutive occasions, Indian middle-order batter Karun Nair was finally able to reach a half-century mark in the ongoing fifth Test between England and India. Emerging as the top scorer, Nair played a brilliant knock of 57 on a pitch that was extremely difficult for batting.

Nair's Coach Expresses Frustration Due To Limited Chances

Indian middle-order batter Karun Nair, who was dropped after the first three games, was finally called back into the side for the fifth match in the ongoing Test between England and India, for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, as both sides were engaged in the second day of the fifth Test at the Kia Oval in London.

On a wicket where most of the batters failed to score runs, Nair emerged as the top scorer, finally converting his start as he managed to score 57 off 109 deliveries with eight boundaries, helping India reach a respectable total of 224 runs on the board after they were in deep trouble early in the innings.

Now, after the success in the innings, his former coach, Sanath Kumar, in an exclusive interview with the Times of India, expressed satisfaction over the knock, but also touched on the topic of his IPL snub.

Speaking to the publication, Kumar was quite disappointed with the fact that it took nine years for Karun Nair to get another chance in the side, as many other players got opportunities despite not scoring many runs.

"Karun used all the pain and frustration of being sidelined as fuel to score those valuable runs in very challenging conditions. Karun had to fight for nine years to get back into the team, re-entering the setup at the age of 33. Failure would have resulted in his chances of getting another opportunity going down to zero. That puts a lot of pressure on a player. Performing in such a scenario showcases how mentally tough Karun is," coach Sanath Kumar said as quoted by TOI. 

According to him, the 33-year-old had to fight back into the side, and if he failed to score runs in this opportunity, getting another one was impossible, which is quite hard on the player, indicating that he is mentally strong.

Karun Wanted To Prove A Point To RCB

However, he touched on the topic of the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction last year, where, after scoring runs for his domestic side Vidharba, Nair was ignored by the eventual IPL 2025 winners, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in the auction.

According to his coach, Delhi Capitals (DC) only gave him an opportunity. Nair confessed to him that he wanted to tell RCB that they were going to miss him, considering the fact that he is a local Karnataka player, and that RCB never buys local players in the auction, which is quite unfortunate.

"I observed this when RCB didn't pick him in the recent IPL auction and DC invested in his services instead. Karun simply said, 'I will show why RCB is going to miss me'. As a Bangalorean, you always wish to play for RCB. Unfortunately, they never pick Karnataka-based players," he concluded.

After India put up 224 runs on the board, England were cruising after the 34-over mark with 176 runs on the board for the loss of just four wickets, while the second session was underway.