Cheteshwar Pujara backs Karun Nair to bat at No.4 on England tour

India’s veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara reckons Karun Nair should not bat at number three position in the upcoming five-match Test series against England as he hasn’t batted at one down. Pujara said Gill should continue batting at number three whereas Nair should be given the number four position by the team’s think tank.

Nair scored 863 runs in nine matches of the Ranji Trophy at an average of 53.93, with the help of four centuries to earn a recall into India’s Test squad.

On the other hand, Nair also amassed 779 runs in nine matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy at an average of 389.50 and a strike rate of 124.04, with the help of five hundreds. Furthermore, the right-hander has the experience of playing for Kent in County Cricket.

Pujara said while addressing a query from Hindustan Times, “I would still like to see if Shubman can carry on batting at number three and someone like Karun, who has batted really well in domestic cricket, gets an opportunity to bat at number four. It will be a bit more suitable for him because Karun is someone who hasn’t batted at number three in domestic cricket.”

He added, “I’m not saying he can’t do it for the Test team, but the ideal position for Karun would be number four. We don’t know whether Shubman is going to carry on batting at number three, or is he going to drop down to number four.”

On the other hand, chief selector Ajit Agarkar said they felt Karun Nair’s County experience could help the team and thus they have picked him in the 18-man squad.

“Sometimes you just have to make good decisions. At the moment, Karun has scored heaps of runs in domestic, has played a bit of Test cricket, played a bit of county cricket. With Virat not there, clearly we’re lacking a bit of experience. We felt his experience could help,” he said.

The opening Test match between India and England will be played at Leeds, Headingley, from June 20 onwards.