Indian batsman Karun Nair has expressed his delight over his triple hundred against England as he became only the second Indian ever to score 300 runs in a test match after iconic Virender Sehwag.
The 25-year old has broken a number of records on course to his triple century and has termed the innings as the best knock in his life. He has also become the sixth youngest cricketer ever to score a triple hundred in a test match in the 140-year history of Test Cricket.
“(This is the) The best knock I’ve played in my life. (There were) many situations in the middle when I had to play differently, with KL Rahul, R Ashwin and Jaddu (Ravindra Jadeja). I have to thank them for supporting me, egging me on,” said Karun in an interview with BCCI.TV
“The first hundred is always important and I think when I got the first hundred, I didn’t feel any pressure. I was just playing my shots after that,” added Karun.
Asked about the effectiveness of the sweep which he predominantly used to overcome the turn of English spinners, he said: “Sweep comes naturally to me, I’ve worked on it a lot, it’s my go-to shot and it just came off today.”
The parents of the Karnataka batsman were in the crowd as they watched Nair reach a historic milestone as Chepauk became the venue for both the triple centuries scored by Indian batsmen in India.
“My dad watches most of my games. No extra pressure on me. I’d like to thank them for coming over. I think they should be proud of me,” said Karun.
The elegant right-handed batsman has also thanked the team management for pushing the declaration to ensure that he reaches 300 as India were keen to declare much earlier as Virat Kohli & Co., were keen to get the result on flat track.
“The message was to attack in the third session. We had a set overs to declare on, but when I got closer to 300, they pushed it back. I’m thankful to the team management,” Karun said.
Speaking about his fellow Karnataka player, KL Rahul who missed his maiden double century after getting dismissed on 199, Karun has backed him to reach the milestone soon.
“Rahul is a good player. He’ll get his 200 soon. The pitch is getting worse day by day. Hard for a new batsman. It’s turning a bit right now, hope it turns more tomorrow,” concluded Karun.