"Karun Nair should have been picked as a standby" - Former spinner on India's team selection for Champions Trophy 2025

Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh reckons that in-form Vidarbha batter Karun Nair should have been picked as a standby in India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad even if there was no place for him in the main 15. The 44-year old commented that while the think tank has been stressing on the importance of domestic cricket, performances in those tournaments also need to be rewarded.

Nair had a stupendous run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25. In eight innings in the List A tournament, the 33-year-old clobbered 779 runs at an average of 389.50 and a strike rate of 124.04, with the aid of five hundreds. Despite the stellar effort, he failed to find a place in Team India's 15-member Champions Trophy squad.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Harbhajan agreed that the selectors had an extremely tough job on hand. He, however, added that they erred by not picking Nair even as a reserve player. Harbhajan said:

"I was hopeful he would get selected. I know it's very difficult to decide whom to include and whom to keep out. But if you don't play Karun Nair... I am not saying he should play right away, but he has scored runs and is in form. At least, he should have been in the team."

The 44-year-old went on to question the BCCI and the selectors over their views on domestic cricket. He opined that while the board and management want players to give importance to domestic cricket, performances also need to be rewarded. Harbhajan commented:

"What is the importance of Ranji Trophy (domestic cricket)? When an international player is not in form, you drop him and tell him to play Ranji Trophy and prove his form. But the ones who are doing well, you are not watching their performance.

"Karun Nair should have been picked as a standby. If needed, he could have been called up. It not needed, at least he would have been in the mix. It's high time you get him back in the system and give him confidence so that he can work even harder," the 44-year-old concluded.

While Nair had a superb Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign, he was dismissed for 27 in the final on Saturday. Karnataka went on to beat Vidarbha by 36 runs to be crowned champions.

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Karun Nair's stats in international cricket

Nair has so far played six Tests for India and has scored 374 runs at an average of 62.33, with a best of 303*. He is the only Indian apart from Virender Sehwag to have notched up a triple hundred in Test cricket. The right-handed batter has also featured in two ODIs and has scored 46 runs, with a best of 39.