Vidarbha captain Karun Nair continues his dream in the semi-finals of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy against Maharashtra on Thursday, January 16 He scored an unbeaten 88 runs. While batting, the right-handed batsman broke the single’s record as the captain in the domestic 50-over tournament.

The previous record holders were the captain of Maharashtra and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Ruturaj Gaikwadwho scored 660 runs in five innings in 2022-23. Nair surpassed Gaikwad in the semi-finals of the 2024-25 Vijay Hazare Trophy and became the first captain to cross the 700-run mark in a single edition of the tournament.

Karan Nair has been in the shape of his life this season. He struck out just once and scored 752 runs in seven innings. The batsman needs to score 79 runs in the final to break Narayan Jagadeesan’s record of most runs scored in a season (830).

After being asked to bat first, Vidarbha posted a daunting total of 380 runs. Openers Yash Rathod and Dhruv Shorey registered centuries by scoring 116 and 114 runs respectively. Karen Nair Just 44 deliveries, including 9 fours and 5 sixes, contributed to 88 runs.

Maharashtra ended with 311/7 after 50 overs and lost by 69 runs in the knockout match. Arshin Kulkarni emerged as the top performer with a score of 90 points. Darshan Narkand Nachiket Bhute took three wickets each.

“He doesn’t have tattoos and doesn’t wear fancy clothes. Is that why you didn’t select him?” – Harbhajan Singh unhappy with selectors for ignoring Karun Nair

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has slammed the Indian selectors for overlooking Karun Narun despite his stellar performances in domestic cricket.

Harbhajan said in his recent YouTube video (via Hindustan Times) that Nair deserves to be included in the national team:

“I’m looking at his numbers. In 2024-25, he played six innings, five not outs, and scored 664, which is his average. His strike rate was 120. They didn’t select him. That’s not true. Fair enough. Different guys have different rules… When they score, you need to play him, right? The reason you don’t pick him is because he doesn’t work hard.”

Karun Nair has played six Tests and two ODIs. He made headlines in December 2016 when he scored 303 against England at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. However, after failing in the next three Tests, he lost his place in the team.

Now, he will play in the final of Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024-25 against Karnatakahis former team. The summit clash will be held in Vadodara on Saturday, January 18.