Karun Nair answers Duleep Trophy snub with stunning century, sends strong message

Karun Nair hit a century in Bengaluru on Monday after being left out of the Duleep Trophy squad for the second year in a row. He also shared a strong message on X after missing out on South Zone's team for the final against East Zone. Where and how did Karun Nair score his latest century? It is worth mentioning that Karun Nair has played 10 Tests for India, scored 104 runs from 183 balls. His innings included 12 fours and one six. He made the runs for KSCA Secretary's XI against Chhattisgarh in the Dr (Capt) K Thimmappaiah Memorial Tournament at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Advertisement What was happening in the Duleep Trophy final on the day of Nair's century? If we talk about the match, Karun Nair scored his century on the same day that South Zone left him out of the team for the Duleep Trophy final against East Zone in Chennai. East Zone scored a huge 708 in their first innings, with Ishan Kishan making 270. Why is Nair's omission surprising given his recent domestic record? Karun Nair was also not picked for South Zone's semi-final against North Zone last week. He is the most experienced player in the current South Zone squad and scored 699 runs for Karnataka in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. Advertisement Inexplicable would be an understatement🤣 https://t.co/kPtzds8r6f — Karun Nair (@karun126) September 7, 2026 How did Karun Nair and the coach address his exclusion? After seeing a social media post calling his exclusion 'inexplicable', Karun Nair replied on X that the word did not fully describe how surprising the decision was. South Zone coach Vikram Verma said Nair was not selected for the semi-final because of the team's combination. What specific combination strategy did coach Vikram Verma explain? 'Actually, we went with a good combination because every team has two left-hand spinners. So, we thought a left-hand batter in the middle order would give us a good chance to dominate them,' Verma said. Advertisement 'So again, we thought about what is best for the team. Now since Devdutt Padikkal has come back, the team combination matter was there. It is very difficult to miss him (Karun) out, but that's the combination we have.' Why did Karun Nair leave the South Zone camp for Bengaluru? Karun Nair left the South Zone camp and went to Bengaluru on Sunday evening. Coach Vikram Verma said he had left the camp because of personal reasons. 'He went back due to personal reasons at home. He mailed us and took the permission for his travel due to family reasons,' he said. Advertisement How did South Zone's middle-order changes pan out in his absence? Karun Nair played for Secretary's XI in Bengaluru while continuing to miss out on South Zone's Duleep Trophy matches. Kodimela Himateja replaced Nair in the semi-final but could not score any runs. He was then left out of the final, with Devdutt Padikkal coming back into the playing XI. Karun Nair's century helped Secretary's XI end the first day against Chhattisgarh at 277 for 9 after 90 overs. What is South Zone's plan to chase down East Zone's massive total? Karun Nair's century came as South Zone were finding it difficult to stop East Zone's batters. East Zone had already scored 708 runs, leaving South Zone with a huge challenge in the final. However, coach Vikram Verma said his team still had a chance to fight back. 'Our plan is to play session by session and build partnerships so that we bat five sessions from now, so that we can chase it (East's total of 708) down,' he said. Advertisement