Nair doesn’t know why he was ignored

NEW DELHI : The India team management had raised eyebrows when it chose uncapped batsman Hanuma Vihari ahead of original squad member Karun Nair in the fifth Test at The Oval. Former skipper Sunil Gavaskar led severe criticism of the decision not to play Nair, who was part of the original squad, while Vihari was only a replacement for the last two Tests.

On Saturday, Nair was dropped from the Test squad for the home series against West Indies in October, and the batsman has hinted at disquiet in the Indian camp. Just before the squad was named, Nair expressed his frustration at not getting a chance in England in an interview to cricbuzz.com.

“No, we haven’t had any conversations. Nothing at all,” Nair said when asked whether the selectors or team management told him why he didn’t make the cut at the Oval. “It’s difficult, but I haven’t gone forth and asked anything, but yeah, we haven’t had any conversation,” he added.

Nair hit the headlines in December, 2016 when he became only the second Indian, after Virender Sehwag, to score a Test century against England at Chennai. An injury replacement for Ajinkya Rahane, he was dropped for the very next Test — against Bangladesh at Hyderabad — when he returned.

Since his unbeaten 303, the 26-year-old Karnataka batsman has played just three Tests – all in the home series against Australia in 2017. He managed 54 runs in four innings and was dropped for the home and away Tests against Sri Lanka, and for South Africa in 2018.

“I played four innings probably in the Australia series, and I think any batsman could get a start and get out in two innings and could have two failures. But to be out of the team after that and not get a chance after that is just unfortunate,” he said.

“All I can do is keep scoring at the domestic level or whichever opportunities I get and get back into the eleven... Whenever I get back into the eleven, I need to make sure those starts are converted. I cannot look at it in a negative way at all.”