Veteran Indian batter Karun Nair was once again overlooked by South Zone as he failed to find a place in the playing XI for their Duleep Trophy 2026 final against East Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Nair had also been left out of the side for the semifinal against North Zone, making it two consecutive matches on the sidelines.
Nair, the most experienced player in the South Zone squad with 10 Test appearances for India, responded to the latest snub in emphatic fashion. While his teammates took on East Zone in the Duleep Trophy final, Nair featured for Secretary XI in a KSCA pre-season warm-up game against Chhattisgarh and struck a century.
The hundred further highlighted his current form and raised questions over South Zone’s decision to leave out an experienced batter, particularly after East Zone piled up a massive 708 in the final. Reacting to a social media post that described his exclusion as “inexplicable”, Nair wrote on X:
“Inexplicable would be an understatement,” wrote Karun.
Why was Karun Nair dropped from South Zone’s XI?
South Zone did not disclose a specific reason for Nair’s exclusion from the final. However, captain Tilak Varma had previously explained that the batter’s omission from the semifinal was purely a tactical call.
South Zone opted to include Kodimela Himateja in Nair’s place, with Tilak pointing to the presence of left-arm spinners in the opposition attack as one of the reasons behind the decision.
“Karun is just unlucky. He has scored a lot of runs in domestic seasons,” Tilak had said while addressing the media at the CoE.
“I have chosen Himateja in place of Karun as they have good left-arm spinners. So we wanted a leftie in the middle order. He has also scored a decent amount of runs in domestic cricket. I was just backing him. As a youngster, he also has a good career. At the same time, it is very unfortunate for Karun.”
However, Himateja failed to justify his selection in the semifinal, registering a duck against North Zone. He was subsequently left out of the playing XI for the final, with Devdutt Padikkal coming into the side.
Nair’s century in the KSCA warm-up game has only added another layer to the debate surrounding his omission, especially given his experience and recent run-scoring record in domestic cricket.
East Zone posted 708 in their first innings of the final, setting a substantial total for South Zone to chase. East Zone had reached the final after defeating defending champions Central Zone by four wickets in their semifinal.
Get every cricket updates! Follow Us: