Champions Trophy: Pick Karun Nair!

Karun Nair is proving to be unstoppable with the bat.

Believe it or not! The 33-year-old Vidarbha batter boasts an incredible average of 752 in the Vijay Hazare Trophy -- the national one-day tournament.

His remarkable run with the bat includes five centuries and a fifty from seven innings in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, accumulating 752 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 109.

Karun Nair's scores in the Vijay Hazare Trophy:

On Thursday, Nair was in rampaging form yet as he dismantled the Maharashtra bowling attack, with a stunning 88 not out from 44 balls.

After reaching 51 off 35 balls, he went ballistic in the final two overs. In the 49th over, Nair smashed Mukesh Choudhary for two successive sixes and a single.

Rajneesh Gurbani was taken to the cleaners in the final over, as Nair went on the rampage. The first ball, which was dropped short, was pulled to deep square leg for a four followed by a dot ball.

Nair then carved an overpitched wide delivery over point for a six before he inside edged the fourth ball which went between his legs to fine leg for a four.

There was no stopping Nair as he slashed the fifth ball past point for another boundary and ended the innings in great style as he swatted the last ball over the leg side for a six.

24 runs from the 50th over took Vidarbha to 380/3 -- their highest ever total in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Nair, who was batting on 51 from 35 balls, at the start of the 49th over, finished unbeaten on a whirlwind 88 from 44 balls, which included four sixes and three fours off the last nine balls he faced in the innings, showcasing his ability to accelerate in the death overs.

His consistent performances have firmly placed him in contention for a spot in the Indian ODI team for the series against England and the ICC Champions Trophy.

With the BCCI making it mandatory for all players to play in domestic cricket to be eligible for selection to the Indian team, it will be difficult for selectors to ignore Nair's spectacular form.

The Vidarbha No. 3 has proven effective against both pace and spin, demonstrating his ability to find boundaries consistently in the closing stages of 50-over games.

Two years ago, Nair, one of India's two Test triple centurions, had pleaded on social media: 'Dear cricket, give me one more chance' after being axed by his domestic side Karnataka for the 2022-2023 season.

The Jodhpur-born right-hander has been very unlucky in his cricketing career so far.

He is only the second Indian to score a triple hundred in Test cricket when he stroked 303 not out in the fifth and final Test against England at Chennai in December 2016.

However, he didn't get many chances after that landmark triple century and ended up playing just three more Tests -- three Tests against Australia in 2017. In all Test history, only one player has played fewer Tests than Nair after scoring a triple ton.

Switching to Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-2024 season, has proved to be a major turning point for Nair's career.

He finished as the highest run-getter in his first Ranji Trophy season for his new team, amassing 690 runs from 10 matches, with two centuries and three fifties. This season he has already made 289 runs from four games with a century and a fifty.

Nair also excelled in the Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20 tournament for Vidarbha, smashing 255 runs in six matches at an amazing strike rate of 177, with three fifties.

Shockingly, despite these performances, he attracted limited interest at the IPL 2025 mega-auction, where Delhi Capitals secured him for Rs 50 lakh -- a deal now looking like a bargain.

Dinesh Karthik remains sceptical about Nair's chances of making the Champions Trophy squad. He explained that India have a set batting line-up in 50 overs and it is too late to make any changes.

'Karun Nair, it's been unreal to see the form that you've been in. Even Mayank Agarwal has been in some really good form. But the beauty is it's coming at a stage when the Indian ODI setup is almost ready to go. There can't be too many changes,' DK told Cricbuz's HeyCBwithDK show.

'Yes, it's very tempting to bring a Karun Nair into the setup, and I think he has earned the right to be part of the talks.'

'But I don't think he will make it to the Champions Trophy squad. But if he keeps going like this, why not? A form batter like that who plays fast and spin well, he is a gun player, and I am very happy for him,' DK added.

Harbhajan Singh batted for Nair's return to the Indian team.

'I never understood how he was dropped after a triple century. It pains me that no one talks about players like him,' Harbhajan said on his YouTube channel.

'Many are selected on the basis of just two games, some are just selected of the basis of the IPL. So, why are rules different for him?

'People say Rohit and Virat are out of form, and you are sending them to Ranji. But those who are playing Ranji and scoring runs... why are you ignoring them? When will these guys play? They are scoring runs here.

'Different rules for different people... that shouldn't be the way. When they are scoring runs, you need to play him, right? He doesn't have tattoos, doesn't wear fancy clothes, is that the reason you're not picking him? Does he not work hard?'

The selectors are surely in a big dilemma as excluding Nair after such consistent performances would set a troubling precedent for domestic players, undermining the value of excelling in domestic cricket.