Three players who started with a bang but finished in their 20s Premium

Karun Nair's move to Vidarbha a reminder of cricket's cruelty. Nair, Kambli, Hirwani all entered cricket with a bang, but didn't play into their thirties. Poor handling, technical & personal weaknesses, lack of mentoring, & emergence of new talent led to their early exits.

Former Karnataka captain, and briefly, India star Karun Nair will be turning out for Vidarbha in the new season of the Ranji Trophy. This is not unusual. Former internationals have made similar moves either because they no longer fit into the scheme of things at home, or because they see better chances away. Yet, if fans feel a twinge at the change, that is because it is a reminder of the cruelty of cricket.

Nair, still only 31, has one of the most intriguing records in Test cricket. An average of 62.33 from six Tests is boosted by a highest score of 303 not out against England. I remember an English writer recalling how, after every break, lunch, tea, close of play, it looked like Nair was still at the crease.

He batted 25 minutes short of ten hours, needing just 75 deliveries for his third hundred. He brought up his double and triple in the same session, the only player to do so since Wally Hammond. Anything short was cut or pulled, anything driveable was driven. The English bowlers didn’t know where to hide.

That triple came in only Nair’s third Test. He had just turned 25 then. A little over three months later, it was all over; he had played his last Test. His highest score outside of that mammoth innings was 26. There was a time in Indian cricket when a century ensured a long stay in the team; now, such was the talent available that even a triple was no guarantee. A couple of seasons earlier, Nair had made the first triple in a Ranji final in nearly seven decades.

Andy Sandham, the English opener who made Test cricket’s first triple century, didn’t play Tests again. But that was no consolation for Nair. Sandham was past 40 at the time, and in the next series, England had a new opening pair, Hobbs and Sutcliffe.

In some ways, Nair is in the company of two other Indian players who entered the scene with a bang, but didn’t play into their thirties.

Vinod Kambli and Narender Hirwani played 17 Tests each, and both promised far more than they delivered. In his first seven Tests Kambli made two double centuries and two others besides, and finished with an average of 54.20. He was 23 when he played the last of his Tests, only one of which was outside Asia.