It has taken 3,149 days, countless domestic runs, and an eight-year wait, but Karun Nair has finally raised his bat in a Test match again. On a gloomy, rain-hit Day 1 of the fifth Test at The Oval, where batting looked treacherous and India’s top order faltered, Nair stood tall. His gritty half-century was his way of redeeming his sinking test career.

Karun Nair’s toil finally pays off

When India dropped him for the fourth Test after a string of failures, it felt like the end of the road for the 33-year-old. Yet, fate handed him one last chance. With Rishabh Pant injured and India opting for a batting-heavy lineup, Gautam Gambhir turned back to Nair, slotting him in at No. 5, a position that has long belonged to Pant. But it was also a position from where he has hammered a bucketload of runs in domestic cricket.

Walking in with India in trouble, Nair showed the composure he truly has but was missing in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He weathered relentless swing in overcast skies, fought through rain breaks that constantly halted momentum, and played with a calm mindset that reminded fans why he was once hailed as a future mainstay. This was his first fifty since that unforgettable *303 against England in Chennai back in 2016.

It wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t dominant, but it was exactly what India needed. More importantly, it was exactly what Karun Nair needed. After making just 131 runs in six innings this series, his future was hanging by a thread. But on the toughest batting day of the series, he delivered.

But the job isn’t done yet. He has passed the difficult “test” of batting on Day 1. However, he’s batting with the last recognised batter, Washington Sundar, and India can’t afford to fall like a pack of cards tomorrow. Batting on 52*, Nair’s task would be to see through the first session which could be equally tricky for him. However, England might not have Chris Woakes tomorrow, who injured his shoulder while attempting to save a boundary in the dying stages of the day.