India vs England: KL Rahul terms Karun Nair's comeback 'special and 'inspiring'

Trust KL Rahul to know the path created by failures. Touted as the next big thing in 2014, he hit his peak between 2016 and 2018, then lost form and his place across formats, only to make a strong comeback over the last 12 months. At 33, he is no longer young, but the Karnataka man's career continues to be on shaky grounds, seemingly. 

 

Which is why he is beaming with joy upon seeing his teammate and close friend Karun Nair make a comeback in the longest format of the game. Nair, who last featured in the Test squad back in 2018 during the England tour, earned a recall for a trip to the same country on the back of staggering domestic performances across all three formats. Additionally, Karun also endured solid County stints with Northamptonshire from the COVID days - an experience that also added to his CV for the Test recall. 

 

"I've known him for a long time and the months that he spent here in the UK, playing cricket, I know how hard and lonely it was," said Rahul in a video on BCCI's official site.

 

"For him, to be able to do all that and come back into the Test team is special for him and his family, and for friends like us who have seen his journey. Very inspiring as well."

 

After registering a triple century in just his third Test innings in 2016, Karun only batted four more times before being dropped in 2017. While he was part of the Test squad during the 2018 England tour, the selectors never bothered to include him in the XI, even with vacancies in the batting unit. Subsequently, Karun's form dipped drastically with the bat in domestic cricket, so much so that he also found himself out of the teams he was part of. It seemed more a matter of mental decline than a skill set one, and he also knew that a break was needed. 

 

The County stint came as a breather, and Karun also got himself amongst the runs. The 33-year-old thrilled everyone with his organic stroke play and aesthetic range of shots, showing why he was highly rated in his early days. Karun's best knocks included a double century against Glamorgan and a 150-plus score against Surrey. He also made some notable contributions in the domestic one-day tournament. However, it is back home where Karun needed to make a statement. 

 

For starters, he started firing on all cylinders in the Karnataka Premier League, where he smashed bowling attacks at no.3. While the nature of the pitches was flat, this was evidence of him getting back his fluidity as a batter. In the 2021-22 Ranji season, Karun barely played many games but still struck a ton and a fifty in five innings, signalling a decent return to form in the longest format. His hard work bore fruit in 2023-24 and 2024-25 with runs flowing increasingly from the willow. Karun was the seventh-highest run scorer in 2023-24 with 690 runs at an average of 41, and he upped his game further in 2024-25 where he finished fourth in the list with 893 runs at an average of 53.93.

 

Karun also had a stellar campaign in the 2025 Vijay Hazare Trophy, where he smashed hundreds for fun. It had reached a stage where his form could no longer be ignored. On what is potentially a tough tour for India as they begin their batting transition, Rahul is optimistic about Karun's capabilities. 

 

"Hopefully his experience and his learnings from playing county cricket will hold him in good stead when he plays the Test matches here (in England)."

 

It's been a long time coming for Karun, and he knows the value of this second chance that life has given him in cricket. Not many players get discarded soon after a double century in Tests, and for Karun, it was an unprecedented triple hundred that he had peeled off very early in his career. To not get a long rope thereafter was a decision the selectors made due to various reasons, but for now, Karun doesn't want to harp on the past.

 

"It feels really special, to get this opportunity again," said Karun in a video on the BCCI website.

 

"Very grateful and very fortunate to be able to get this opportunity. Very excited and looking forward to grabbing this with both hands."

 

Karun could be in the starting XI of the first Test against England in Headingley. With the batting order gearing up for a transition, spots are there to be claimed. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and skipper Shubman Gill are the only certainties among the specialist batters, with wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja being the other automatic picks. That leaves two possible spots with Karun facing competition from the likes of Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan alongside the all-rounders in Nitish Reddy and Washington Sundar.

 

Even if his moment doesn't arrive in the series opener, it is hard to see Karun not featuring in any of the Tests. The man himself knows that the opportunity is around the corner, and when it comes, he'll have to pounce on it like there is no tomorrow.

 

"Not sure actually (of how he'd feel on his comeback), I think I'll have to experience that feeling myself. Just go out there and feel it myself. I'm sure there will be a lot of feelings that I can't express right now, but it will be a special feeling."

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