Karun Nair’s bat goes silent, Karnataka suffer

With just three specialist batsmen left and more than 200 runs to be scored to make the Ranji Trophy final, Karnataka face, to put it mildly, an uphill task against Bengal in the semifinal. Their supposedly formidable batting line-up has been brought down to its knees by combination of lively Eden pitch and a disciplined Bengal pace attack that has been extraordinary without trying to be extravagant.

Come to think of it, Karnataka’s batting has appeared anything but formidable this season. With just one total in excess of 400 and no more than one individual century in the entire campaign, it’s been a bit underwhelming. While Karnataka got away with less competitive or inexperienced sides till the semifinal, their frailties thoroughly stood exposed against a well-equipped Bengal. Nothing typified the eight-time champions’ batting inadequacies better than skipper Karun Nair’s two single digit scores at the Eden.

To realise how wretched Nair’s form has been this season one has to have a glance at his 15 innings this season - 8, 5, 13, 81, 64, 0, 10, 17, 22, 47, 71 n.o., 4, 15, 3 and 6. Some of the lesser batsmen have been treated differently - dropped, brought back and then dropped - but then you can’t apply the same standards to Nair. After all, he has been a Test player with a triple ton to boast. He needs to be treated differently because he is a game-changer. And Nair appeared to prove that point with scores of 41 and 71 n.o. in Karnataka’s win against Baroda but in the quarterfinal against Jammu and Kashmir he had scores of 4, and 15 and 3 and 6 in the ongoing semifinal.

While Nair isn’t solely responsible for Karnataka’s below par batting shows through the season, his lean patch has lasted for far too long to be ignored. Stretching from last season, the right-hander has now gone 15 Ranji matches without a century and that’s a staggering piece of statistic for someone of his calibre. If a combined tally of 590 runs from last 24 Ranji innings at an average of 24.58 is not a cause for concern, then nothing else can be.

In fact, since that epic unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai just over three years ago, things haven’t exactly moved the way Nair would have liked them to. What should have been a milestone in his fledgling career has sort of become a millstone around his neck.

Nair saw himself eased out of the Test side following the tour of England in 2018 without being given a chance. If that wasn’t frustrating enough, Hanuma Vihari – who joined the team midway through the series - made the playing XI, adding insult to injury. This unfair treatment and a subsequent string of insignificant scores for both India A and Karnataka couldn’t have been a mere coincidence.

Just when things were looking to hit rock bottom, Nair lifted himself up with an impressive Duleep Trophy last year when he amassed 532 runs at an average of 106.40 with two centuries and as many half-centuries. If one thought the 28-year-old was turning things around, it turned out to be a false dawn.

Following an underwhelming Vijay Hazare Trophy (66 runs from six innings), which Karnataka annexed, Nair has endured an equally disappointing Ranji season where he has tallied modest 366 runs at 26.14 with just three half-centuries in nine matches. In a Karnataka line-up that was missing some of their key batsmen before Manish Pandey, and then K L Rahul, joined them for the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively, Nair was their biggest hope but instead he only added to their overflowing cup of woes.