Vidarbha skipper Karun Nair continued his dream run with the bat as he scored an unbeaten 88 in the team’s Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 semifinal against Maharashtra on Thursday, January 16. During his knock, the right-handed batter broke the record for the most runs scored by a captain in the domestic 50-over tournament.

The previous holder of the record was Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who chalked up 660 runs across five innings in the 2022-23 season. Nair eclipsed Gaikwad during the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 semifinal, becoming the first captain to cross the 700-run mark in a single edition.

Karun Nair has been in the form of his life in the ongoing season. He has gotten out just once and has amassed 752 runs in seven innings. The batter needs to score 79 runs in the final to break Narayan Jagadeesan’s record of scoring the most runs (830) in a single season.

After being asked to bat first, Vidarbha registered a daunting 380-run total. Openers Yash Rathod and Dhruv Shorey notched up centuries, scoring 116 and 114, respectively. Karun Nair contributed 88 off just 44 deliveries with nine fours and five sixes.

Maharashtra finished at 311/7 after 50 overs, suffering a 69-run defeat in the knockout fixture. Arshin Kulkarni was the top performer with a 90-run knock. Darshan Nalkande and Nachiket Bhute claimed three wickets apiece.

“He doesn’t have tattoos, doesn’t wear fancy clothes, is that the reason you’re not picking him?” – Harbhajan Singh unhappy with selectors ignoring Karun Nair

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh slammed the Indian selectors for ignoring Karun Narun despite his brilliant performances in domestic cricket.

Opining that Nair deserves to be in the national team, Harbhajan said in his recent YouTube video [via Hindustan Times]:

“I’m looking at his stats. In 2024-25, he played six innings, remained not out in 5, scoring 664 and that was his average. And he’s played at a strike rate of 120. And they don’t pick him. It’s unfair. Different rules for different people… that shouldn’t be the way. When they are scoring runs, you need to play him, right? He doesn’t have tattoos, doesn’t wear fancy clothes, is that the reason you’re not picking him? Does he not work hard?”

Karun Nair has played six Tests and two ODIs. He grabbed headlines with a 303*-run knock against England in December 2016 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. However, he lost his place in the team after failing in the subsequent three Tests.

He will now be seen in action in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 final against Karnataka, his former team. The summit clash will take place in Baroda on Saturday, January 18.