<p>Not long after becoming only the second Test triple centurion for India, Karun Nair was back at a gym in Bengaluru. Visions of a bright future carried him forward. </p>.<p>Hours after being dropped from Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy squad for the first time in nearly a decade on Saturday, he was at the same gym. Memories of a now-distant past propel him still. </p>.<p>"I trust the process," Karun had said a long time ago. </p>.<p>That he is sticking to what was once said with a cheeky smile in reference to the brickbats directed at him earlier in his career is commendable. </p>.<p>Inspiring even when you account for his new-found responsibility as a young father, and an identity akin to a coin in a whirlpool. </p>.<p>Maybe it’s time for Karun to recalibrate and move in a different direction, at least in terms of his process. For, almost everything he has worked for and towards has come undone, instigating a crisis of faith that manifested into a tweet on Saturday evening. </p>.<p>‘Dear cricket, give me one more chance,’ he wrote. </p>.<p>It was an uncharacteristic show of vulnerability from a man who was forced into a shell by the uncompromising world of cricket. </p>.<p>At only 31, the cricketer is down on his luck (metaphorically on his knees), praying for another chance. </p>.<p>While his public admission may seem like he has resigned to his fate, cricketers like Karun are slow to give in, even slower to give up. </p>.<p>If anything, now Karun’s more relatable as his tale transcends numbers, slumps, rejections, and failures. He now enters the realm of a person swimming against the tides of time - a reflection of a very human struggle. </p>.<p>That said, it’s impossible to put ourselves in his shoes for few in the history of Indian cricket have gone from such dizzying heights to these lows in the span that he has.</p>.<p>Only six years or so ago, Karun, at the age of 25, smashed an unbeaten 303 in his third Test at the Chepauk in Chennai against England on December 19, 2016. </p>.<p>Now, as of December 12, 2022, Test cricketer No. 287 is rumoured to be playing cricket among rank amateurs on nondescript grounds in Bengaluru. </p>.<p>As humbling as that would have been, Karun was also rejected by the State side for the limited-overs leg earlier this year. In the midst of this peculiar spiral, he was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League season.</p>.<p>The final push came on Saturday evening when the Fazal Khaleel-led Karnataka selection committee chose to bring in a couple of youngsters to the red-ball squad for the upcoming Ranji season. They replaced the not-so-old Karun to gamble with a younger middle-order. </p>.<p>Thus, the tweet. </p>.<p>While Karun did get three Tests to show up after his unprecedented Test start, being subject to the bench in Australia for a freshly-flown-in Hanuma Vihari in 2017 didn’t sit well with him, or so it seems because he has not been the same since. </p>.<p>Resentment? Anger? Depression? Despondence?</p>.<p>Whatever the fall-out of the Indian management’s decision, it affected Karun deeply enough that the consistency which had pushed him to the highest echelons of cricket betrayed him, even at the domestic level. </p>.<p>Questioning Karun’s ability for his decline isn't a sound argument, and neither is questioning his work ethic. Questioning his ability to handle rejection, however, isn’t off the table.</p>.<p>Karun still has time to bounce back. If nothing else, he could return to the Karnataka side someday because it’s not easy to ignore his experience, acumen, and intensity. </p>.<p>Maybe the force which saved him from drowning in a river in Kerala in 2016, will save his career from capsizing. Thus, the prayer.</p>.<p>All said and done, one cannot help but wonder if Karun looks at the number plate - which reads '303*' - of his gorgeously black Ford Mustang as a stark reminder of what once was. Or, maybe, he views it as a reminder of what he is truly and still capable of.</p>
<p>Not long after becoming only the second Test triple centurion for India, Karun Nair was back at a gym in Bengaluru. Visions of a bright future carried him forward. </p>.<p>Hours after being dropped from Karnataka’s Ranji Trophy squad for the first time in nearly a decade on Saturday, he was at the same gym. Memories of a now-distant past propel him still. </p>.<p>"I trust the process," Karun had said a long time ago. </p>.<p>That he is sticking to what was once said with a cheeky smile in reference to the brickbats directed at him earlier in his career is commendable. </p>.<p>Inspiring even when you account for his new-found responsibility as a young father, and an identity akin to a coin in a whirlpool. </p>.<p>Maybe it’s time for Karun to recalibrate and move in a different direction, at least in terms of his process. For, almost everything he has worked for and towards has come undone, instigating a crisis of faith that manifested into a tweet on Saturday evening. </p>.<p>‘Dear cricket, give me one more chance,’ he wrote. </p>.<p>It was an uncharacteristic show of vulnerability from a man who was forced into a shell by the uncompromising world of cricket. </p>.<p>At only 31, the cricketer is down on his luck (metaphorically on his knees), praying for another chance. </p>.<p>While his public admission may seem like he has resigned to his fate, cricketers like Karun are slow to give in, even slower to give up. </p>.<p>If anything, now Karun’s more relatable as his tale transcends numbers, slumps, rejections, and failures. He now enters the realm of a person swimming against the tides of time - a reflection of a very human struggle. </p>.<p>That said, it’s impossible to put ourselves in his shoes for few in the history of Indian cricket have gone from such dizzying heights to these lows in the span that he has.</p>.<p>Only six years or so ago, Karun, at the age of 25, smashed an unbeaten 303 in his third Test at the Chepauk in Chennai against England on December 19, 2016. </p>.<p>Now, as of December 12, 2022, Test cricketer No. 287 is rumoured to be playing cricket among rank amateurs on nondescript grounds in Bengaluru. </p>.<p>As humbling as that would have been, Karun was also rejected by the State side for the limited-overs leg earlier this year. In the midst of this peculiar spiral, he was released by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the upcoming Indian Premier League season.</p>.<p>The final push came on Saturday evening when the Fazal Khaleel-led Karnataka selection committee chose to bring in a couple of youngsters to the red-ball squad for the upcoming Ranji season. They replaced the not-so-old Karun to gamble with a younger middle-order. </p>.<p>Thus, the tweet. </p>.<p>While Karun did get three Tests to show up after his unprecedented Test start, being subject to the bench in Australia for a freshly-flown-in Hanuma Vihari in 2017 didn’t sit well with him, or so it seems because he has not been the same since. </p>.<p>Resentment? Anger? Depression? Despondence?</p>.<p>Whatever the fall-out of the Indian management’s decision, it affected Karun deeply enough that the consistency which had pushed him to the highest echelons of cricket betrayed him, even at the domestic level. </p>.<p>Questioning Karun’s ability for his decline isn't a sound argument, and neither is questioning his work ethic. Questioning his ability to handle rejection, however, isn’t off the table.</p>.<p>Karun still has time to bounce back. If nothing else, he could return to the Karnataka side someday because it’s not easy to ignore his experience, acumen, and intensity. </p>.<p>Maybe the force which saved him from drowning in a river in Kerala in 2016, will save his career from capsizing. Thus, the prayer.</p>.<p>All said and done, one cannot help but wonder if Karun looks at the number plate - which reads '303*' - of his gorgeously black Ford Mustang as a stark reminder of what once was. Or, maybe, he views it as a reminder of what he is truly and still capable of.</p>
