‘Life has come full circle’
Seven years after quietly slipping out of the Indian Test setup, Karun Nair is back — and back where it all began to unravel. When he steps onto the field at Headingley on Friday, it won’t just mark a return to cricket’s biggest stage, but a deeply personal full circle.
The 33-year-old batter, who last toured England in 2018 without featuring in a single Test, now finds himself back in familiar surroundings — but with a second chance.
"Life has come full circle," Nair said in a video shared by the BCCI. "I went out of the team in England, and now I’m coming back in England. It has been a while, and I’m trying to embrace that.”
Back in 2018, Nair boarded the flight with high hopes but watched the entire series from the sidelines. Soon after, he was dropped from the Test squad altogether. What followed was a long, quiet grind through the domestic circuit. Despite the setbacks, he never gave up on his dream.
His consistent performances — particularly in the recent Ranji Trophy season — have finally paid off, as he returns to the Indian Test team after seven long years. With the retirements of stalwarts Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opening doors for a fresh middle order, Nair has seized his moment.
“My first thought every morning was: I want to play Test cricket. I want to play for India again,” Nair said. “That thought kept me going, kept me hungry. It was the driving force behind every training session and every day of hard work.”
For Nair, the moment it truly sunk in came when he rejoined his teammates. “When I saw everyone for the first time, that’s when I felt it — that I’m finally back in the team. Until then, it hadn’t really hit me.”
Headingley has not been a happy hunting ground for India since 2002, but with a new era under captain Shubman Gill, the team is looking to rewrite history. And Karun Nair, too, is ready to pen a new chapter in his story.
“Don’t chase perfection — dream big,” he said. “Have belief that anything can happen at any time. Hi, this is Karun Nair, and I’m ready to go.”
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