Former Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik, sharing his thoughts on India's latest Test squad selection, stated that the national selectors appear to be moving on from middle-order batsman Karun Nair, following his exclusion from the 15-member squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies. Karun Nair found himself out of favour again after a lukewarm performance during the recent Test series in England. Karun got his second opportunity with the Indian team during the England tour, but he failed to cement his place in the XI, managing just 205 runs in four matches, with a solitary half-century.

“The fact that Karun Nair is not looked at any more means they are moving on from him, which is very tough on him. I think he played in one of the toughest series on tough pitches. But in all fairness, he’ll look back himself and say, ‘Could I have scored more runs in a couple of innings at the start, in the first three Tests?’ Because in the last Test, he got a 50 on a tough pitch,” said Karthik on Cricbuzz.

“I can promise you if he was playing this series, he would get runs. It’s almost a given, the way he’s batting. The fact is they are saying, ‘Big series, we have him an opportunity and he didn’t deliver. So we move on to somebody young for the future’."

India have brought in Devdutt Padikkal to replace Karun Nair, and Dinesh Karthik has hailed the move.

“I really feel Devdutt being given an opportunity is a good thing because he has got 80 in Australia (for India A last year). He’s got skills because Australia is a very hard place to play and he got runs there. And the England series last year, he got a 50 in Dharamsala. So he has earned his stripes. He got injured and that’s why Karun Nair came into the squad. Otherwise Devdutt would have been part of the squad from day one in England. So he has earned his recall into the Indian team,” said Karthik.