There has been a whole load of talk around picking the squad for the five-Test series against England this June. With Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma announcing their retirement, the seat of the captaincy plus the two very critical batting spots remain open. The most crucial task appears to be the selection of someone to bat No. 4 in Kohli’s place. While names of Shubman Gill and KL Rahul are being thrown around, former cricketer Sanjay Bangar has suggested an alternative option.
I am thinking about Karun Nair at No. 4. If we really want to prioritize domestic cricket as a yardstick, he has done everything to get this Test spot back, said Bangar to ESPNcricinfo. Karun really has done well in domestic cricket this season, helping his side, Vidarbha, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final and in winning the Ranji Trophy whilst playing some classy cricket.
At 33, he is only second to Virender Sehwag in India to have scored a triple century in Test cricket, and his age of 33 goes with the performance that has seen him come back into reckoning. In his very first IPL 2025 game, he blitzed 89 off 40 balls for the Delhi Capitals.
Then, Bangar mentioned another valuable domestic cricketer, Abhimanyu Easwaran. What about Abhimanyu Easwaran? He has been piling on the runs. I think he will be there in the Test squad,” he added. Easwaran was not able to gain a spot in the playing XI for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on account of his poor showing in India A matches. But that may be changing as he has been appointed captain of India A for the warm-up games against the England Lions.
