ENG vs IND 2025: 'Karun Nair didn't capitalize on chances; Sudharsan has ability to do well' - Irfan Pathan

Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan has shared his assessment of Karun Nair and Sai Sudharsan as far as their performances in the recently-concluded five-match Test series between England and India are concerned. Karun and Sudharsan played four and three matches, respectively.

Irfan gave Karun a four-out-of-ten rating for the sole reason of not being able to capitalize on his starts, barring the one fifty (57 off 109) he scored in the fifth Test at The Oval. The former all-rounder felt that the Karnataka batter could have played well in the third game of the series at Lord's, which he eventually did not, costing India the game as the English side had gained a 2-1 lead.

“Karun Nair gets four out of ten. Why? He didn’t look particularly poor throughout the series. He kept getting starts consistently but managed only one half-century. He got plenty of opportunities. Cricket definitely gave him a second chance, but he couldn’t capitalise on it the way he should have. Especially in the Lord’s Test, he had a real chance to win the match for India but couldn’t do it,” shared Irfan in a video on his YouTube channel.

Irfan also pointed out Karun's apparent vulnerability against the short balls bowled by the English pacers.

“Other than that, it often seemed like he was playing well, building up nicely, and then suddenly, he’d play a loose shot and get out. At The Oval, when the bouncer was used against him, he looked a bit shaken and seemed more unsettled and uncomfortable. So, he gets four points," added Irfan.

Sudharsan has the ability to do well: Irfan

Moving onto Sudharsan, the left-handed all-rounder felt the southpaw showed glimpses of positive signs while batting. He also speculated that things might have panned out differently had Sudharsan been backed for the entire series. The Baroda-born felt Sudharsan should be backed more in India's red-ball games to squeeze out the best of his potential going forward. 

“Sai Sudharsan gets five out of ten. He came across as a player who, with a bit of work on a few aspects, clearly has a lot of cricketing potential. He could have made better use of the opportunities he got but wasn’t quite able to do so. However, I do believe that if he had played all the matches, things might have turned out differently, but it’s not that easy,” the cricketer-turned-YouTuber commented.

“When you go overseas, you get a chance, your team loses, then you get dropped, and later you’re brought back. Even selecting a playing XI is a tough job. But as a player, he’ll definitely feel that if he gets regular opportunities going forward, he can achieve a lot. I’ve always liked left-handed batters at the top of the order, and even in the last match when he got a chance, he scored a half-century and batted well. He has the ability to do well. That’s why he gets five out of ten," he pointed out.

India were able to draw the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy by levelling the series via a 2-2 margin. Their wins came in the second Test at Edgbaston (336 runs) and the fifth one at The Oval (6 runs).