Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar lauded Vidarbha batsman Karun Nair amid his purple patch in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, saying that performances like this just do not happen out of nowhere, they come from “immense focus and hard work”. Nair, who is captaining Vidarbha in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, will play the title clash against his former team Karnataka at Vadodara on Saturday. Nair is the top-run-getter in the tournamen so far, having accumulated a massive 752 runs in seven matches at a mind-boggling average of 752.00 due to him being unbeaten in six innings.
He has also scored five centuries and a fifty in the competition, with the best score of 163*. His strike rate is 125.96.
Taking to opportunity count!”
Scoring 752 runs in 7 innings with 5 centuries is nothing short of extraordinary, @karun126. Performances like these don’t just happen, they come from immense focus and hard work. Keep going strong and make every opportunity count!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) January 17, 2025
In the semifinal against Maharashtra on Thursday, Nair made a quickfire 88* in 44 balls, with nine fours and five sixes to guide Vidarbha to a match-winning total of 380 runs. Maharashtra could only make 311/7.
Nair is on the verge of breaking an all-time record in the tournament. If he scores 79 more runs in the tournament, he will overtake Tamil Nadu batsman Narayan Jagadeesan’s tally of 830 runs (in eight matches, at an average of 138.33, with a strike rate of over 125 and five centuries, a best score of 277) during the 2022/23 edition of the competition.
This strong performance in the tournament has earned Nair acclaim from the cricketing fraternity and fans alike, with many demanding he gets another call to the Indian team. Having last played for India in March 2017, Nair was the only Test triple centurion for India after legendary opener Virender Sehwag.
In six Tests for India since his debut in 2016, he made 374 runs in seven innings at an average of 62.33, with best score of 303*. Nair also played two ODIs for India, scoring 46 runs with best score of 39.
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