Karun Nair Looking At A Test XI Comeback After More Than 3000 Days

Karun Nair Looking At A Test XI Comeback After More Than 3000 Days (Image Source: Twitter)

Karun Nair is all set to make a comeback to the India playing XI for the Headingley Test against England. No doubt his comeback is the result of his determination and hard work but there are many other stories in Indian cricket, which didn’t result in a happy comeback.

On the top, there are two instances of making a comeback to the Test side, even after more than 17 years. George Gunn of England didn’t play any Test between 2 March 1912 and 10 January 1930 i.e. 6524 days but his comeback resulted in adding only four more Tests to his record.

Younis Ahmed of Pakistan played only 4 Tests in his entire Test career spread over more than more than 17 years but surprisingly he played two Tests in 1969 and two more in 1987, making a comeback to the Test side. He was absent from the Test playing XI for 6319 days.

Karun Nair is not going to match their record, but he will join the club of cricketers who were absent from Test cricket for 3000 days or more. His last Test for India was against Australia at Dharamsala which finished on 28 March 2017. So, as expected, if he plays at Headingly, he shall create a record of being absent from Test cricket for 3005 days.

*For India, so far only three players have made a comeback to the Test playing XI after remaining absent for more than 3000 days:

-JD Unadkat was absent from Test cricket between 21 December 2010 and 21 December 2022 i.e. 4384 days.

- KD Karthik was absent from Test cricket between 22 January 2010 and 13 June 2018 i.e. 3065 days.

- PA Patel was absent from Test cricket between 12 August 2008 and 25 Nov 2016 i.e. 3028 days.

Incidentally, none of the above enjoyed a very fruitful Test career, after making a comeback.

Jaydev Unadkat played only three Tests after making a comeback and could claim only 3 wickets (which includes none in the last two Tests).

Dinesh Karthik was also unsuccessful in his comeback stint and added only 3 more Tests to his tally, scoring only 25 runs in five innings and was out for duck in two out of them.

The comeback of PA Patel was different and is an interesting story. More than eight years after his previous Test match, and four years after his last international, wicket keeper Paarthiv earned a recall to the Test XI at Mohali in November 2016 in the Test against England. Incidentally at 17 years and 153 days, he was Test cricket's youngest wicket keeper when he made his debut in 2002 and at Mohali in his comeback Test, he was the second-oldest member of the side. His recall was a result of the injury to the regular wicket keeper Wriddhiman Saha, and injury to Lokesh Rahul on the eve of the Test further assigned him the opener’s role.

He grabbed the opportunity with both hands, effected five dismissals and scored 42 during a testing spell from the English bowlers in the first innings. Also slammed a quickfire half-century in the second innings and India won the Test. India needed only 103 to win. Parthiv was an instant hit with the public and took only 54 balls to score 67 not out.

However, Parthiv also played only five Tests, including Mohali, after making a comeback.

Karun Nair is India's only other triple-centurion in Tests after Virender Sehwag. Life came full circle for him when this year he was picked for the tour of England. Karun has bitter memories of his last England tour in 2018, when he was benched for all the five Tests. India won the third Test but were still trailing 1-2 and the side was enforced with the addition of Prithvi Shaw and Hanuma Vihari. A vacancy came when Hardik Pandya was dropped for the fifth Test at The Oval, but Vihari made his debut and once again Karun was a silent spectator.

One of the big talking points before the Headingley Test is Karun Nair’s return to the Test XI after a gap of more than 8 years. A big challenge awaits him. He however knows the art of comebacks. He was dropped from the Karnataka team and made a comeback. In 2023, he was unsold in the IPL auction and even struggled to get a county contract. For IPL 2025, Karun joined DC but was not in the scheme of things and was expected to be more of a squad player. However, got a chance and played his first IPL match since the 2022 season for Rajasthan Royals. He made a grand comeback, in an IPL game after 1077 days, scoring a 40-ball 89 in an unsuccessful chase to Mumbai Indians’ target of 206 and stamped his class.

Now he is making another comeback and probably the most important comeback of his cricket career. At 33, he looks reborn. In July 2016, he survived a boat accident in river Pampa in Kerala during a thanksgiving temple visit after making his ODI debut. Another survival awaits him.

Charanpal Singh Sobti