'I deserved more than a series' - Karun Nair slams selectors after Test and India-A snub

Indian batter Karun Nair has expressed his disappointment after being dropped from the national team and excluded from the India-A squad despite consistent domestic performances. The 33-year-old, who made a long-awaited comeback to the Test team for the England tour earlier this year after a seven-year gap, feels he wasn’t given enough opportunities to prove himself.

Following two stellar seasons for Vidarbha, where he scored 1,553 runs and helped the team lift the Ranji Trophy, Nair earned a recall for the 2025 Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. However, his returns of 205 runs from eight innings at an average of 25.62 saw him lose his place for the home series against the West Indies. Eventually, he was also left out of the India-A squad for the upcoming two-match red-ball series against South Africa-A. Speaking after his unbeaten 174 against Goa in the ongoing Ranji Trophy, Nair admitted the omission hurt him deeply.

“There are certain goals that I’ve set for myself, which I wouldn’t want to talk about. But other than that, the primary goal would be to win games for the team. It’s quite disappointing (being dropped), but I know that I deserve to be there after the last two years (of domestic cricket) I’ve had. People might have their own opinions, but personally, my opinion is that I deserve a lot better," Nair said as quoted by Times of India.

Karun Nair sends strong message to Agarkar after Test snub

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Karun Nair sends strong message to Agarkar after Test snub

 Despite the setback, the former India batter is hoping his bat does the talking and he gets back to the national setup as soon as possible.

“There are certain individuals in the [Indian] team who have had good conversations with me about how they felt. That’s about it. It does get into the head. But the second thought would be to do your job, which is to score runs and let people have their opinions. Honestly, what target can I have next? All I want to do is to play for the country. If you’re not able to do that, the next thing would be to try and win games for the side you are playing for," he added.