Karun Nair faced another tough moment just hours after being left out of the Indian squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. His Vidarbha team lost to Karnataka in the Vijay Hazare Trophy final by 36 runs. This win marks Karnataka's fifth title in the domestic 50-over competition. Smaran Ravichandran shone with a century for Karnataka, while Vidarbha's Dhruv Shorey scored his third straight ton but it wasn't enough. Nair, who had been in great form with centuries in nearly all his previous innings, had an off day, managing only 27 runs off 31 balls against Prasidh Krishna.

Karnataka set the tone by batting first, with opener Smaran hitting a solid 101 off 92 balls. Keeper-batter Krishnan Srijith also made a valuable contribution with 78 runs off 74 balls. T20 sensation Abhinav Manohar added a thrilling 79 off just 42 balls, helping Karnataka reach a strong total of 348 for 6 in their 50 overs.

In response, Vidarbha was bowled out for 312 in 48.2 overs, with opener Shorey scoring 110 off 111 balls. Unfortunately for Vidarbha, most of their batters outside the top three struggled to make an impact. All-rounder Harsh Dubey did give Karnataka a bit of a scare with a quickfire 63 off 30 balls, which included five sixes and as many fours, but ultimately, Vidarbha fell short.

Karun Nair wraps up with an impressive average of 389.5

Karun, who was a hot topic during the Indian team's selection meeting in Mumbai, wrapped up the tournament with an impressive 779 runs and an incredible average of 389.5. His outstanding performance even caught the eye of batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on social media. Sachin praised him, saying, “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!”

Despite his remarkable stats, Karun didn’t make the cut for the Indian squad for the 2025 Champions Trophy. Ajit Agarkar, the chairman of selectors, recognized Nair's impressive average but pointed out the challenge of fitting everyone into the team. “Those are really special performances, and someone averaging over 700 or 750 is definitely on our radar. We did discuss it, but finding a spot in this team is really tough right now,” Agarkar mentioned during the press conference.

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