 "Karun Nair is tipped to make his India comeback in the first Test against England. Image: PTI")
Karun Nair gave Indian fans a scare ahead of the first Test against England, set to begin on Friday. While facing Prasidh Krishna in the nets, the batter missed a sharp delivery that struck him on the ribs. Nair appeared uncomfortable and took a brief pause, but showed resilience as he resumed batting shortly after.
Nair, 33, will hope there’s no serious injury and he is 100 percent fit to play for India in the first Test against England, which starts on 20 June at Leeds. Nair is among the favourites to be picked in what would be a new-look Indian batting order.
Karun Nair inches away from Test comeback
With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli now retired from Tests, India need two new batters in the lineup. Rishabh Pant on Wednesday confirmed that Shubman Gill will bat at No.4 and he will be at No.5, which means there’s a good chance KL Rahul will open along with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nair may miss out.
India could pick Sai Sudarshan for No.3 or Nair, maybe slotted into that spot. So far, Nair has only batted at No.5 or lower in six Test matches.
Also Read | Advised to retire, hope of playing for India again kept Karun Nair going through the lows
If Nair gets picked on Friday, it will mark his return to the Indian Test team after a gap of over seven years. And if he gets the opportunity, he will look to make the most of it, having already scored a triple ton against England in the past.
He also hit a double ton for India A recently against England Lions .
Meanwhile, England has already announced their playing XI , which sees Chris Woakes making a comeback to the Test side, while Ollie Pope has been picked over Jacob Bethell.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWoakes would be replacing Sam Cook in England’s playing XI. Brydon Carse has been included in place of Gus Atkinson, who is suffering from a hamstring injury.
England XI for first Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue and Shoaib Bashir.