After his non-selection for the Duleep Trophy semi-finals and the the ongoing final in Chennai, Karnataka batter Karun Nair has returned to Bengaluru and is instead playing for KSCA Secretary XI at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in the Thimmappiah Trophy, a red-ball tournament which usually marks the start of Karnataka’s preparations for the Ranji Trophy.
Nair was part of South Zone’s training session at Chepauk on the eve of the Duleep Trophy final on Saturday. It is understood that he left the squad on Sunday after learning of his non-selection for a second successive game. On Monday, he scored a century for KSCA Secretary XI against Chhattisgarh.
After stumps on the second day of the Duleep final, South Zone coach Vikram Verma said that Nair had left the squad for “personal reasons” but Nair’s post on X (formerly Twitter) suggested otherwise, putting the spotlight on selections in the South Zone side.
“No, he [Nair] went [home] with the personal reasons,” Verma said. “So he left for his home, he mailed and took the permission. Actually, we went with a good combination because every team has two left-arm spinners. So we thought a left-hand batter in the middle order would give a chance to dominate them. So again, we thought [of] what is best for the team.
“And [in the] first match [against North Zone], we gave chance to a youngster [Kodimela] Himateja. Now since [Devdutt] Padikkal has come back again, so again the team combination was that. So [it] was difficult to [leave] him [Nair] out, but that’s the combination we have.”
The South Zone line-up for the final includes only one specialist opening batter in N Jagadeesan. On the eve of the final, South captain Tilak Varma had defended the selection, suggesting that Ricky Bhui, the team’s vice-captain, could do a job as an opener. Bhui had also opened the batting in the semi-finals in Bengaluru, scoring 5 and 42.
Bhui has opened in only three of the 90 first-class games he has played so far.
“Actually, Bhui has played before and has opened the innings before, but it has been some time… Ricky was playing in the middle order,” Tilak had said. “But now he can adjust and he’s a senior player. So, that’s why we thought to open with him and Jaggi [Jagadeesan].”
The Duleep Trophy squads were picked by selectors from each state association within that zone, and not by the national selectors.