New Delhi: Just hours after revealing that he had once thought about joining Kerala Karun Nair scored his fourth century in the 2025 Ranji Trophy final against them playing for Vidarbha at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur. In pursuit of their third Ranji title Vidarbha reached 189/3 at tea on the second-to-last day increasing their overall lead to 226. Nair remained not out on 100 from 187 balls having shared a vital 182-run third-wicket partnership with Danish Malewar who fought hard for his 73 off 161 balls. The pair of Nair and Malewar helped Vidarbha recover after they were reduced to 7/2 in the third over of the morning. Earlier Vidarbhas second innings got off to a rough start losing both openers in just 2.2 overs. Kerala making their first appearance in a Ranji final were dismissed for 342 on day three giving Vidarbha a 37-run lead in the first innings. Nair shares a strong bond with Kerala. Although he was born in Rajasthan his parents Kaladharan and Prema Nair are from Kerala. Nair began his career representing Karnataka after his family moved to Bengaluru for his fathers job. He spent nearly ten years playing for Karnataka until in August 2023 he was dropped from all formats and decided to make a change. On Friday he disclosed that he had considered the option of joining Kerala but the discussions didnt come to fruition and Vidarbha arrived at the perfect moment to secure his services. There were discussions about it. When I was sure I was going to leave Karnataka I was looking at my options Nair said in an interview with Malayalam Channel 24 on Friday. There was some talk about it but it didnt go forward. I had offered myself to KCA but it didnt go forward. At the same time I got an offer from Vidarbha. I wasn’t in a situation to wait as I wasn’t in the best spot. I wanted to clear my mind and that was only possible by joining a team. So I joined Vidarbha he added. The right-handed middle-order batsman didn’t dismiss the chance of joining Kerala at some point in the future. You dont know. If a situation like that comes up we will see he said. Vidarbha only require a draw to secure the title due to their first-innings advantage. Meanwhile Kerala must dismiss them and successfully chase the target to claim the prestigious trophy.