Star Indian batter Karun Nair who returned to the Indian side after seven years smashed an astonishing century during the unofficial Test between India A and England Lion at the St Lawrence Ground in Canterbury, on May 30 (Friday). He along with Sarfaraz Khan (92 off 119 balls) joined a crucial 181-run partnership and helped the visitors reach a good total.

This was the 24th first-class century for the Indian batter and it also came at a crucial time as India A had lost their openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhimanyu Easwaran early in the match. He joined an extremely important partnership with Sarfaraz Khan who missed out on his century by just 8 runs.

Karun Nair earned his way back into the national fold after a wait for seven long years. The 32-year-old batter was recently named in the Indian 18-men Tests quad for the upcoming five-match red-ball series in England starting June 20.

Nair's resolute domestic comeback is the direct cause of his return to the Test squad. He made the audacious decision to go to Vidarbha before the 2023–24 season after a challenging few years with Karnataka, where possibilities became scarce. That switch turned out to be really important. He amassed 690 runs in 10 games during his first season with Vidarbha. After that, he had an even better 2024–25 Ranji Trophy season, scoring 863 runs at an average of 54 in nine games. Vidarbha won their third Ranji Trophy because to his century in the Ranji final against Kerala.

In a Test match against Australia in Dharamsala in 2017, Nair made his final appearance for India. In six Test matches, he has amassed 374 runs at an average of 67. Notably, he achieved a triple century in Test cricket, becoming just the second Indian batter to do so after Virender Sehwag.

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