Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has lashed out at the management over Karun Nair‘s omission from the squad for the upcoming Champions Trophy. On Saturday, India captain Rohit Sharma and chairman of the selection committee Ajit Agarkar announced India’s 15-man squad during a press conference at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Nair scored 27 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final against Karnataka, ending the season as the highest run-getter with 779 runs in eight matches.
However, Harbhajan lashed out at the selectors for ignoring Nair, and questioned whether there’s any point of scoring runs in domestic cricket when performing players are not being selected.
“Is there a point playing Domestic cricket when you don’t pick players based on form & performance?,” Harbhajan posted on X.
Is there a point playing Domestic cricket when you don’t pick players based on form & performance ? #KarunNair
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) January 18, 2025
During the press conference, Agarkar admitted that it was indeed tough to include Karun in a squad of 15 in the current situation.
“Yeah, it is tough. Those are really special performances. I mean, someone who averages – 700-plus, 750-plus. We did have a chat (about Karun),” Agarkar explained.
“But at the moment, to find a spot in this team is very difficult. I mean, look at the guys who’ve been picked. All average well in excess of mid-40s.
“So, unfortunately, you can’t fit everyone in. It’s a squad of 15. But those performances (like Karun) certainly make you take notice,” he added.
Having last played for India in March 2017, Nair was the only Test triple centurion for India after legendary opener Virender Sehwag.
In six Tests for India since his debut in 2016, he made 374 runs in seven innings at an average of 62.33, with best score of 303*. Nair also played two ODIs for India, scoring 46 runs with best score of 39.
India Squad for Champions Trophy and England ODIs: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill (vc), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardil Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana (only 2 ODIs vs England)
(With ANI Inputs)
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