ENG vs IND: Shubman Gill Criticized for Omitting Karun Nair from Manchester Test Playing XI
Synopsis
Shubman Gill’s call to drop Karun Nair for the fourth Test vs England drew flak from ex-cricketer Mohammed Kaif, who felt Gill missed a chance to back a senior player in tough times and questioned the leadership behind the bold omission.
Team India skipper Shubman Gill came under fire over his decision to drop Karun Nair from the playing XI for the fourth Test of the five-match series against England at Old Trafford in Manchester on Wednesday, July 23.
Karun Nair’s Test comeback was short-lived after he was snubbed for the crucial Test at Old Trafford. The 33-year-old featured in the first three matches of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025, but failed to justify his selection as he scored 0,20, 31, 26, 40, and 14 and aggregated 131 runs at an average of 21.83 in six innings, failing to convert his starts into impactful knocks.
Karun Nair, second Indian batter after Virender Sehwag to score a Test triple century, was replaced by Sai Sudharsan, who was dropped after making his Test debut at Headingley on July 20.
‘Chance missed to earn the respect’
Team India management and Shubman Gill’s decision to drop Karun Nair from playing XI was criticised by former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif, who slammed the captain for not backing the veteran Indian batter.
Taking to his X handle (formerly Twitter), Kaif believed that Gill should have given Karun another chance, adding that Indian skipper lost the chance to earn respect for not backing a senior player going through a rough patch.
“Today was Shubman Gill's chance to back Karun, who was down but deserved one more chance. He should have picked Karun Nair. Chance missed to earn the respect when it comes to making tough decisions as a leader,” a former Indian cricketer wrote on X.
Karun Nair made his comeback to Test cricket after a gap of eight years, thanks to his impressive performance in domestic cricket and County Cricket, plying his trade for Northamptonshire for two seasons in 2023 and 2024. However, Karnataka batter couldn’t translate his domestic and County success into runs at the international level, falling short against England’s disciplined bowling attack.
Will Karun Nair make his return to Team India?
Karun Nair’s second Test tour of England is likely to come to an end as Team India management is expected to play Sai Sudharsan in the fifth and final Test of the ongoing series at The Oval, which will start on July 31.
After the Test series against England, Team India will play their first red-ball cricket of the ongoing World Test Championship Cycle against West Indies in October. Since Karun Nair is not in a scheme of things for white-ball setups, his realistic path of staking a claim again in the Indian team depends on his performance in domestic cricket.
However, Nair is likely to be in competition with some of the upcoming stars, including Sai Sudharsan and Sarfaraz Khan, to make a way back into the Indian team.
In his Test career, Karun Nair has aggregated 505 runs, including a triple century, at an average of 42.08 in nine matches. Nair scored his only triple century against England in Chennai in 2016, playing a brilliant unbeaten innings of 303 off 376 balls.