The achievement is cherish-able when it comes after struggle and it becomes even memorable when a player dedicates it to his/her parents – in front of the large gathering in the stands while kissing the helmet with the national flag embossed on it.
And it further becomes that sweet part of the history when a player recalls those wild celebrations and cheers. Karun Nair, the triple-centurion, is one familiar name among them.
Calm and composed 25-year-old Jodhpur-born batsman followed the suit and notched up magnificent triple century while hitting the 32nd boundary of his innings – to find his name in record books.
In an interview with Cricbuzz, Nair expressed the triple century hasn’t sunk in yet, before urging to play for the national side across all three formats.
“I don’t think it (triple century) has sunk in. It’s been just a few days and I haven’t had enough time to think about what happened and I’m playing a match now. Over the next few days, I probably will have some time to think about it,” Nair said.
“I have always wanted to play all three formats for India and do well consistently. So, I think I am on the right path and I have to just wait for opportunities in the other formats. The journey for me has just begun,” he added.
A promising prospect for India, Karun Nair had weak lungs at the tender age and doctors advised his parents to push him more for physical activities and luckily, he was sent to Shivananda’s Cricket Academy to play cricket and from there on, he didn’t look back at all.
During a festival in Kerala, miseries seemed to follow Nair, who’s not able to swim when he almost lost his life in a boat mishap before being rescued by the locals.
The right-handed batsman’s Test career’s best of unbeaten 303 came against England in the fifth and final Test of Anthony De Mello Trophy at Chepauk, which seemed the placid surface, but such feats require a great will and patience and Nair fortunately had it all on his day.
The elegant stroke-maker, who plays for Karnataka in Ranji Trophy, faced 381 balls and batted for over 560 minutes to become India’s second cricketer after explosive opener Virender Sehwag (309) to cross the 300-run mark.
Earlier, after receiving a huge criticism for scoring just four in Mohali and 13 at Wankhade, Nair carved a niche for himself with his great hand-eye coordination after toying with English bowlers to silence his critics.
“The most important thing was getting past the 20s and 30s. For me, it has always been about getting my first century out of the way. That’s probably the pressure point for me. Once I’ve got the first 100, I’ve gone on to get bigger scores.” Nair said.
Nair, in his three Tests vs England, amassed 320 runs at the staggering average of 160, which seemed a mini Ferrari hitting the macadamized road pretty hard.
The rookie became third player to convert a debut Test century into a triple in the cricketing history after West Indies legendary batsman Sir Garfield Sobers and former Australia skipper Bob Simpson.
Nair also expressed his gratitude to Rahul Dravid, who has played an important role on-field to shape up the young batter at various stages including his national side coach Anil Kumble and skipper Virat Kohli for pushing him to come up with better results .
“It has been a tough season, but you have to give yourself a break for a while. Your body needs that. So, lock your kit away and don’t even look at it for a month,” Nair concluded.
Nair scored his maiden century from 185 balls and amassed 200 in 306 balls before reaching triple ton in just 75 balls.