Cricketers Karun Nair, Shreyas Gopal to play for Vidarbha, Kerala respectively; leaving Karnataka

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], August 28 (ANI): Two key players of Karnataka Karun Nair and Shreyas Gopal have obtained No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to play for Vidarbha and Kerala, respectively in the upcoming domestic season, as per ESPNcricinfo. 

Former Karnataka captain Nair amassed 11 hundred and sixteen fifties in first-class cricket for the state, with his highest score being against Tamil Nadu in the 2014–15 Ranji Trophy final at 328. He was in the running for a spot in the national team after scoring those runs in just his second season.

A year later, he made his Test debut against England, going on to become just the second Indian to score 300 runs in Test cricket.

Nair’s decided to leave Karnataka after not being a part of the team in any format for Karnataka. His last first-class game was the Ranji Trophy quarter-final against Uttar Pradesh in June 2022.

Karnataka has seen the rise of two promising middle-order hitters Nikin Jose and Vishal Onat in the absence of Nair. In the 2022–23 Ranji Trophy, Jose had a breakout season, scoring 547 runs in 13 innings with an average of 49.72. His disposition received particular praise, and as a result, he was called up to the India A squad for the recently finished Emerging Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

In the time that Nair has found himself out, Karnataka have seen the emergence of two young middle-order batters Nikin Jose and Vishal Onat. Jose had a breakthrough season, scoring 547 runs in 13 innings at an average of 49.72 in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy. His temperament came in for special occasions, earning him a call-up to the India A squad for the recently concluded Emerging Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

Onat only played in five innings in the season overall, but the Karnataka selectors still think he’s worth developing. Along with the seasoned Mayank Agarwal, Devdutt Padikkal, R Samarth, and Manish Pandey, the presence of these two young batters might have made it challenging for Nair to receive consistent playing time.

Meanwhile, Shreyas has moved to Kerala to strengthen their spin-bowling. Shreyas will join Jalaj Saxena in the spin department. 

Shreyas made his debut in 2013–14 and scored three goals against the Rest of India to win the Irani Cup. He was a crucial all-rounder for Karnataka in all forms for the larger part of the following five seasons. But recently, like with Nair, he struggled to get regular playing time, particularly in the white-ball formats.

Two more Karnataka players, middle-order batsman KV Siddharth and top-order batter Rohan Kadam, are leaving to join Goa’s team.