Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra showered praise on Karun Nair’s knock on the opening day of the fifth Test match at the Kennington Oval, London on Thursday. Put into bat by England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope on a green deck, India lost early wickets of their openers – Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul.
Nair, who replaced Shardul Thakur in the playing XI, got off to a cautious start. The right-hander scored an unbeaten knock of 52 runs and helped India end the day’s play at 204-6.
This is almost a do-or-die Test match for Nair as he had failed to deliver in the first three Test matches of the series, aggregating only 131 runs at an average of 21.83.
Chopra noted that Nair might not have played the Oval Test if Rishabh Pant had not been injured.
“Karun Nair scored a half-century after 3100 days. India have also scored runs, although they haven’t scored too many. Of course, they are not ahead in the game, but are not behind as well, is what I am thinking. You can probably say that Washington Sundar is the world’s best No. 8,” Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
Nair scored a triple century against England back in 2016 and he has been performing consistently in the domestic circuit to get his chances.
“When Karun Nair scored a triple century, he did it against this team only. Then he remained out of the team, which was slightly unfair as well. Then he scored a lot of runs. Life and cricket gave him a second chance, but it seemed like he had spilled that chance. If Rishabh Pant hadn’t gotten injured, he wouldn’t have gotten a chance,” he added.
The renowned commentator said Nair was able to stand tall to team management’s selection call of playing an extra batter in Pant’s absence.
“However, Rishabh Pant got injured, suddenly an opportunity opened up, you wanted to play an extra batter, here he comes, and he scores his fifty. This has become the second-highest score of his Test career, and we wish him well,” he observed.
The former Delhi cricketer said the batting won’t be easy on the green Oval pitch unless the sun comes out in London.
“Karun Nair is not out, and Washington Sundar is there with him. Of course, not much is left after that because you have three fast bowlers. You are not expecting too much from them. The second new ball is 16 overs away, but I do feel batting won’t become that easy at the moment unless the sun comes out and the rain stops suddenly,” he said.
Chopra predicted that the pitch might ease up for batting in the second innings and England would miss a specialist spinner in their team.
“If you reach close to 250 in the first innings, you will have to stop the opposing team early because, as the game progresses, the intrinsic nature of the pitch will come to the fore, which is a flat surface. You can actually fill your boots when you bat in the second innings. England might miss spin in their attack then,” Chopra elaborated.
Nair and Sundar will hold the key for India on the second day’s play.
