Former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar was not pleased with the team management for leaving out Karun Nair for the final Test match at the Oval. The Karnataka batsman has been with the team since the Afghanistan test. He was also in the squad for the first four Test matches against England and was once again overlooked by the think tank.
On the other hand, Virat Kohli and team management decided to go with Hanuma Vihari who is making his debut. Vihari has an average of 59 in his first-class career. However, the right-hander only broke into the squad for the last two Test matches.
Karun Nair is unfortunate to miss out.
Therefore, many people believe it was hard on Karun Nair to be left out of the team. In fact, Nair had a scored a fine triple hundred against England however it had come in the home conditions. Although, Nair was dropped after a dry run of form. Nair has a first class average of 51.09.
Consequently, Sunil Gavaskar said Karun Nair has all the right to ask the team management why he wasn’t picked.
“Karun Nair has every right to ask the team management why he is not in the team,” said Gavaskar while speaking on the Sony Six show. “He deserves an answer. You didn’t pick an extra specialist batsman earlier, but now that you have, Karun Nair deserves an answer. He is not your favorite player. The selectors seem to have brought him. I don’t think the team management likes him.”
It has been unfair for Karun Nair to be warming the benches. In fact, India made two changes to their playing XI. Hanuma Vihari was roped in place of all-rounder Hardik Pandya whereas Ravindra Jadeja replaced Ravichandran Ashwin who was not 100% fit.
On the other hand, England is playing with an unchanged XI. It is Alastair Cook’s swansong and he is batting unbeaten on 30 runs.