Can Karun make the ‘one more chance’ he’s got count? Premium

Karun Nair's journey from despair to redemption in cricket, showcasing resilience and determination in his comeback to Test cricket.

‘Dear cricket’ took two and a half years to respond to Karun Nair’s plaintive cry. Now, the 33-year-old’s destiny lies in his own hands.

In December 2022, in the middle of the domestic first-class season in which he took no part, India’s second Test triple-centurion took to Twitter (now X), pleading with ‘dear cricket’ to ‘give me one more chance.’

A string of poor scores had led to his exclusion from the Karnataka team he had captained not long back and he appeared at the end of his tether, his unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai in December 2016 a distant and painful memory despite the magnitude of that accomplishment.

Karun’s triple-hundred came as a bolt from the blue. Not that he didn’t have the skills or the ability – he had assiduously compiled a 14-and-a-half-hour 328 in the final of the Ranji Trophy against Tamil Nadu in March 2015, which Karnataka won by an innings – but it appeared dramatically, without warning. In his two previous Test innings, he had made 4 (run out after being sold a dummy by his captain Virat Kohli on debut in Mohali) and 13. There was no indication that a big one was coming.

At Chepauk, he positively filled his boots. India had already secured an invincible 3-0 lead when they hosted England in the last of five Tests. For the second game in a row, the visitors topped 400 (477) on batting first, and India had eased to 211 for three when Karun strode out to join his state-mate K.L. Rahul, opening the batting. In the aforementioned Ranji  final, the two came.together at 84 for five – Rahul had retired hurt when the team was 16, and watched from the dressing-room as Lakshmipathi Balaji ripped out the top order – and put on 386, effectively slamming the door on  Abhinav Mukund’s side. Rahul’s contribution in Karnataka’s 762 was a mellifluous 188.

This time, the situation wasn’t as dire but hey, this was a Test match. Never mind if the series had been won or lost, there was plenty at stake, for both batters. After smashing 158 against West Indies in July, Rahul’s Test scores read 50, 28, 32, 38, 0, 10 and 24 – a few starts, but nothing substantial. As for Karun, his Test career had yet to take off.

The two men who had begun their representative cricketing journeys at almost the same time lived out a fairytale, adding 161 for the fourth wicket. Rahul eased to 199 when he lobbed leggie Adil Rashid to cover, exiting the ground in unconcealed disappointment. Karun wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, flaying England to the tune of 32 fours and four sixes while breezing to 303 off just 381 deliveries. Not quite in the Virender Sehwag league when it came to rate of scoring but suddenly, Sehwag’s lonely existence in the 300-club had come to an end.