'He didn’t deliver, so we move on' - Former Indian cricketer on Karun Nair's exclusion from India's Test squad

Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik has shed light on what proved to be Karun Nair's undoing and led to him being dropped after the five-match England series. Nair managed only 205 runs in eight innings against England on his India comeback after eight years.

Karthik said that the management has seemingly moved on from him with his exclusion from the squad to face West Indies at home. However, Karthik commented that Nair would have scored runs against the Windies since the series will be played at home.

“The fact that Karun Nair is not looked at anymore means they are moving on from him, which is very tough on him. I think he played in one of the toughest series on tough pitches. But in all fairness, he’ll look back himself and say, ‘Could I have scored more runs in a couple of innings at the start, in the first three Tests?’ Because in the last Test, he got a 50 on a tough pitch. I can promise you if he was playing this series, he would get runs. It’s almost a given, the way he’s batting. The fact is they are saying, ‘Big series, we have him an opportunity and he didn’t deliver. So, we move on to somebody young for the future’,” Karthik was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

Karthik was all praise for Devdutt Padikkal, who has been included in place of Nair. The cricketer-turned-commentator commended the left-handed batter's prowess and remarked that he "earned his recall: into the Indian setup.

“I really feel Devdutt being given an opportunity is a good thing because he has got 80 in Australia (for India A last year). He’s got skills because Australia is a very hard place to play and he got runs there. And the England series last year, he got a 50 in Dharamsala. So, he has earned his stripes. He got injured and that’s why Karun Nair came into the squad. Otherwise, Devdutt would have been part of the squad from Day One in England. He has earned his recall into the Indian team,” he added.

India will take on West Indies in two Tests, with the matches to be played in Ahmedabad (first Test) and Delhi (second Test).