Karun Nair 303*: Karnataka 502/1 decl, lead ENG by 25 runs

Karun Nair shook the cricketing world today with a maiden Test triple ton.
Sehwag was India's only Test triple centurion for the past 12 years.
India declared soon after Karun touched the 300-mark.

When the five-Test series had begun, not everyone was aware of Karun Nair. He has been a regular member of Karnataka Ranji Trophy team but had made his international debut earlier this year during the Zimbabwe tour.

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The England series was his first appearance in the whites for India. Since everyone in India does not rigidly follow domestic cricket, his heroics for Karnataka during the 2014-15 season was not widely known.

Karnataka had won the final against Tamil Nadu, courtesy of Karun's 328 off 560 balls. He had batted for four days.

The Chennai Test is Karun's third Test for India, and after batting for over a day, he notched up his maiden Test century. He needed 185 balls to reach the three-digit figures.

On the previous day, his Karnataka teammate and Indian opener KL Rahul sadly was dismissed on 199. Karun, looking in the same terrific form, gave hopes to his state and country to do the unfinished job.

The cricketer, who was born in Jodhpur, but has been living in Karnataka since his childhood, then aimed at the 200-run mark. He needed just 121 balls to get there. By doing so, he became the third Indian to convert maiden Test ton into a maiden Test double hundred.

Name	Score	Opponent	Year
Dilip Sardesai	200*	New Zealand	1964
Vinod Kambli	224	England	1993
Karun Nair	303*	England	2016

He scored his first Test double century in just three innings and hence beat Vinod Kambli (4 innings) as the quickest Indian to touch the feat.

Soon after he crossed his 200, Karun's game became fearless. He smashed another 11 boundaries on his way to a bigger history. In the meantime, he ripped aprt the English attack - who clearly were physically and mentally tired. As a result, they dropped a catch and missed an easy stumping of Karun.

He kept on shattering records after records. His journey from 200 to 300 was even more, small - 75 balls! His first 100 came off 185 balls and second was in 121 balls. These numbers testify the fact that the youngster's confidence kept shooting.

Watch: Karun Nair converts maiden Test ton into maiden Test double hundred

There was not a single moment when records and expectations seemed to have bothered him and pushed him under pressure.

Alastair Cook tried all his bowlers - Liam Dawson, Moeen Ali, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, Keaton Jennings, Jake Ball and Stuart Broad, the consequence was same - they kept getting hammered by the 25-year-old Karun.

One after the other, he went past all the Indian legends barring Virender Sehwag (309 & 319). The likes of Rahul Dravid (270), VVS Laxman (281), Virat Kohli (235) and MS Dhoni (224) were pushed behind in the list of Indian cricketers with the highest individual score in the Tests.

Karun made his maiden Test century, double hundred and triple century with a boundary! The moment he entered the 300-run club, the Chennai crowd erupted in joy. The dressing room danced in happiness. The newsrooms had gone crazy.

He is the only third cricketer in the history to convert his maiden Test ton into a maiden Test triple century.

Name	Country	Score	Year
Gary Sobers	West Indies	365*	1958
Bob Simpson	Australia	311	1964
Karun Nair	India	303*	2016

Yes, so much joy for an immensely talented batsman who has announced himself in the big world today, in style!

As soon as he achieved the milestone, the Indian Test skipper signalled declaration; that was being delayed due to Karun's milestone.

At the end of India's innings in Chennai, Karnataka 501/1 (Karun Nair 303*, KL Rahul 199) in India's 759/7 declr. Karnataka lead England (477) by 25 runs!

If you missed the moment, watch here: