Karun Nair, who returned to the national set up after 8 long years for India’s upcoming tour of England, said that he was grateful for the opportunity to represent India again. “Feels really special,” Nair told bcci.tv. (I’m) Very grateful and fortunate to be able to get this opportunity again. Looking forward to grabbing this opportunity with both hands,” he added.
Nair, India’s second-ever Test triple centurion, was welcomed to the side by head coach Gautam Gambhir.
“Comebacks are never easy. The amount of runs you’ve got, the never-give-up attitude — it’s inspiring for the entire team. Welcome back, Karun Nair,” the coach was seen saying in the video.
His longtime statemate KL Rahul, with whom he has played since his U-14 days spoke about his resilience when chips were down.
A comeback story with Karun Nair 🔝
P.S. – A special message from KL Rahul 👌#TeamIndia | #ENGvIND | @karun126 | @klrahul pic.twitter.com/PeYCsNtnxv
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 12, 2025
“I’ve known him for a very long time,” Rahul said. “The months he has spent here in the UK playing cricket and how hard and how lonely it was.
“For him to be able to do all of that and come back into the Indian team is special for him and his family, and friends like us who’ve seen his journey.” Rahul termed the journey inspirational for one and all.
“It’s very inspiring as well. Hopefully his experience and learnings from County cricket here will hold him in good stead when he plays the Test matches.”
For Karun, it still feels surreal that he is back in the Indian dressing room.
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“I’ll have to experience that feeling myself, just go out there and feel it for myself. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of feelings, ones that I can’t express right now. It’ll be a surreal feeling.”
The last of Nair’s six Test appearances came in March 2017. It is during this run that he famously scored an unbeaten triple century against England in December 2016 in Chennai. However, he scored just 71 runs across his six other innings before and after that knock which led to him losing his spot in Indian team.
(With agency inputs)