Chennai: Seasoned batter Karun Nair gave a glimpse of what South Zone will be missing in the Duleep Trophy final with a hundred for KSCA Secretary’s XI in the ongoing Dr (Capt) K Thimmappaiah Memorial Tournament in Bengaluru on Monday.
Karun made 104 off 183 balls (12×4, 1×6) against Chhattisgarh at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
However, the in-form batter found no place in the ongoing Duleep Trophy final against East Zone here. Ishan Kishan made a stupendous 270 to lead East to a mammoth 700-plus first innings total.
“Actually, we went with a good combination because every team has two left-hand spinners. So, we thought a left-hand batter in the middle order would give us a good chance to dominate them,” said South Zone coach Vikram Verma.
“So again, we thought about what is best for the team. Now since Devdutt Padikkal has come back, the team combination matter was there. It is very difficult to miss him (Karun) out, but that’s the combination we have.”
In fact, Karun, who had scored 699 runs in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season for Karnataka, had left the team on a Sunday evening flight to Bengaluru.
Verma attributed Karun’s absence to “personal reasons.”
“He went back due to personal reasons at home. He mailed us and took the permission for his travel due to family reasons,” he said.
But Karun’s participation in a tournament in his home city, however, indicated that him non-playing the domestic season opener has more to it than mere “personal reasons.”
The 34-year-old’s hundred ensured that Secretary’s XI finished day 1 of the match against Chhattisgarh at 277 for 9 in 90 overs.
It may also tell that South Zone missed a trick by overlooking Karun, after conceding 708 runs against East Zone in the Duleep Trophy title clash on a placid pitch.
The Karnataka batter, a dominant player against spin, would have loved to take on tweakers at the Chidambaram Stadium.
However, Verma thought South Zone are still in the contest.
“Our plan is to play session by session and build partnerships so that we bat 5 sessions from now, so that we can chase it (East’s total of 708) down,” he said.
