3 reasons why Karun Nair should be in India’s squad for Champions Trophy 2025

Karun Nair has been phenomenal in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25 for Vidarbha. Without a doubt, his batting has been a key reason behind Vidarbha making it to the final. His numbers in the Indian domestic tournament have been out of the world and have forced the selectors to think about his inclusion into the Indian ODI squad. One shouldn’t be surprised if he makes it to the Indian squad.

India will be playing at least six ODIs in the next few weeks. The first three of them will be against England in a bilateral series at home. India is grouped alongside Pakistan, New Zealand, and Bangladesh in the Champions Trophy 2025. All of India’s matches will be taking place in the United Arab Emirates due to the Hybrid model. Karun makes a great case for himself to bag a spot in the Champions Trophy 2025 squad.

Here are the three reasons in favour of Karun Nair’s spot in India’s Champions Trophy 2025 squad –

Aggression in the middle-order

Karun Nair has been aggressive in the domestic ODI tournaments in the last few seasons. In the current ODI era, minimising the number of dot balls in the middle-overs phase or hitting boundaries in regular intervals will be key as no target seems to be safe. Karun can do both – Hit boundaries and rotate strikes.

In the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25, he has been among the batters with the least dot ball percentage and the highest boundary count in the middle overs. Considering the nature of ODIs, such batters must be backed. Not to forget, his insane conversion rate in the tournament has been amazing. 5 of his six 50+ scores have been a hundred with the other being an 88*.

A vacant middle-order spot

India has a lot of talented batters. However, the middle-over phase is something where they cannot go wrong. As India will be playing their Champions Trophy 2025 in UAE, the wickets are likely to be slow. For such conditions, there’s a need for an experienced batter on slow surfaces. The existing players in the squad are either not too capable or lack match practice in ODIs.

That’s where Nair comes into the discussion. He has been playing the 50-over format for the last month or so. He has a great momentum with him and the statistics back his performances. Karun is hungry for runs and will be ready to do everything in his might to be in the squad. Such hunger by an individual can uplift the morale and the confidence of other individuals in the team.

Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25 madness

Without a doubt, the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024/25 has belonged to Nair by a fair margin. In 7 innings, Nair has been dismissed only once and has registered six 50+ scores. Only one of them was not a 3-digit mark and his only score under 50 was a well-made 42. Nair has not failed even in a single innings which makes his case stronger.

In the VHT 2024/25, Karun has a whopping 752 runs in 7 innings at an out-of-the-world batting average of 752.00. Even without not-outs, his aggregate per innings is over 107, which is crazy. Nair has an outstanding batting strike rate of 125.96 playing mostly in the middle order. He has 5 hundred and a fifty to his name. Nair’s performance in the tournament alone makes him a potential candidate for the Champions Trophy 2025.

Disclaimer: This latest news is based on the author’s understanding, analysis, and instinct. As you review this information, consider the points mentioned and form your own conclusions.

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