By early March this year, the cricketing fraternity was united and vocally demanding a national comeback for pro batter , after his awe-inspiring run for Vidarbha across formats in the domestic arena. With a stellar run in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25, where Nair not only made 779 runs at a staggering average of 389.50, but also led Vidarbha to the finals, which they unfortunately lost to Karnataka - his home team until 2022.

Then by the end of the Ranji Trophy a few months later, Nair was once again making the headlines for his 863 runs across nine games, and this time, also helping Vidarbha only their third Ranji title, after they had missed out narrowly in the previous season to Mumbai. Then come the IPL 2025, he pumped flow into the Delhi Capitals batting unit, with 89 off mere 40 deliveries, which was the final verdict of his abilities to switch and be a dynamic batter as per changing demands of the kind of format he plays in.

As the Indian Test team moves to a transition period with stalwart batter Virat Kohli having retired, the spot for a No. 4 batter was left vacant and as chief selector Ajit Agarkar says - the experience of Karun Nair made him make a dramatic, but not a surprising call into the Indian team. The Jodhpur-born Nair, who had been preparing for the evening game against Punjab Kings, got good news in his hotel room, when he read his name in .

"Grateful to get back, happy and proud and fortunate. Found out (about inclusion in the squad) like all of you found out. Was eagerly awaiting the call, got a lot of messages from close ones. Have been batting well in the last 12–16 months. It's about keeping my processes the same and do the same things that have worked for me," Nair was quoted as saying by Lokmat Times Nagpur.

The next immediate goal for the 33-year-old, will be to solidify his position in India's key middle-order unit, and contribute with runs that help the team's cause. Fitting in Kohli's shoes won't be easy at all for the Vidarbha batter, but with form, selectors' belief and a solid batting technique, he will be more than confident to make his "second chance" count, as the tour against the Three Lions begins June 20 at Leeds.

Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, B Sai Sudharsan, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shardul Thakur, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Akash Deep