IND vs WI: Ajit Agarkar explains the selection decision concerning Karun Nair and compares him to Devdutt Padikkal

BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar has revealed the reason for dropping Karun Nair from the squad for the two-match Test series against the West Indies. Nair played four Tests in England and scored 205 runs, with just one fifty to his name. He returned to the team after more than 3000 days, but the batter could not justify his selection.

Agarkar spoke to the media after the announcement and said that they were expecting more from Karun during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. The chief selector said that Devdutt Padikkal offers more than Nair, and his recent form will help the team.

“We were expecting more from Karun. He played four Tests, and there was just one fifty. We feel Devdutt Padikkal offers more as a player. I wish we could give every player 15-20 Tests,” he said.

“It doesn’t work that way. Padikkal has been in the Test squad in the past. He has shown form with India A,” he added.

Karun scored his runs at an average of 25.62 against England. Padikkal scored a hundred in the first unofficial Test between India A and Australia A.

India squad for West Indies series

Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja (VC), Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, N. Jagadeesan (WK), Mohammed. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Kuldeep Yadav.