The seventh round, which was the final group-stage round of the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy, ended on Thursday, January 8. Out of 24 teams, only 12 qualified for the quarterfinals.

Several players made good use of their chances. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dhruv Jurel scored centuries, while Hardik Pandya and Jitesh Sharma impressed with scores in the 70s. Sarfaraz Khan also made headlines by hitting the fastest half-century of the tournament, reaching his fifty in just 15 balls.

However, many IPL players failed to perform for their teams. Players like Abhishek Sharma, Priyansh Arya, and Karun Nair could not make an impact in Round 7. Take a look at five IPL stars who disappointed in the match.

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1. Abhishek Sharma

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Punjab opener Abhishek Sharma failed to make an impact against Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. The left-hander scored just eight runs off 10 balls. However, Punjab won the close match by one run.

In his previous two games, Abhishek scored 30 against Uttarakhand and 48 against Maharashtra. Despite being a regular in India’s T20I side, he averages only 33.78 in List-A cricket. He has scored 2,196 runs in 69 matches, including four centuries and eight half-centuries. Because of this, players like Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devdutt Padikkal remain ahead of him in the ODI race due to their ability to play long innings.

2. Priyansh Arya

Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Delhi opener Priyansh Arya also struggled with the bat against Haryana. He was dismissed for six runs off four balls. Despite his failure, Delhi won the match easily by nine wickets while chasing a small target of 106.

Arya has been inconsistent this season, with three single-digit scores in seven matches. His low scores include one against Gujarat and five against Odisha. However, he also played some good knocks, scoring 80, 72*, 78, and 74. The 24-year-old will aim to bounce back in the quarterfinals.

3. Urvil Patel

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Gujarat wicketkeeper-batter Urvil Patel have had a poor Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign. He has scored 194 runs in seven matches at an average of 27.71. His best score was 64 against Odisha.

In the latest match, Urvil was out for 15 runs off nine balls as Gujarat suffered a heavy 145-run defeat against Saurashtra. Gujarat won only three of their seven matches and failed to qualify for the quarterfinals. CSK had bought Urvil mid-season last year and retained him at his base price ahead of IPL 2026.

4. Prithvi Shaw

Delhi Capitals (DC) batter Prithvi Shaw has also failed to find consistency in the tournament. He was dismissed for two runs against Chhattisgarh and followed it up with a one-run dismissal against Goa.

Apart from a score of 71 against Mumbai, Shaw has struggled throughout the competition. The Maharashtra opener has scored 193 runs in six innings at an average of 32.16, including two half-centuries. With Maharashtra reaching the quarterfinals, the team will hope Shaw delivers in the knockout matches.

5. Karun Nair

Delhi Capitals batter Karun Nair was disappointed in the match against Madhya Pradesh. The Karnataka batter scored 10 runs off 14 balls as his team was bowled out for 207. Madhya Pradesh later won the match by seven wickets.

This was Nair’s third straight low score, after managing 14 and a duck against Rajasthan and Tripura. However, he earlier played two strong innings, scoring an unbeaten 130 and 62 against Kerala and Puducherry. Delhi Capitals retained him for his base price of INR 50 lakh ahead of IPL 2026.

On the second day of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, Karnataka successfully chased the 285-run target against Kerala, thanks to centuries by Devdutt Padikkal and Karun Nair. 

After Karnataka chose to field first in Ahmedabad, Kerala scored 284/7 in 50 overs, with two 70+ scores. In reply, the opener Devdutt Padikkal and the no.3 batter Karun Nair scored strong centuries to guide the team to a crucial victory with a comfortable chase, as Karnataka chased down the target in 48.2 overs after losing only two wickets.

See Also: Odisha pacer Rajesh Mohanty records Vijay Hazare Trophy hat-trick against Services

Kerala revived from poor start

Kerala lost their first three batters inside the first 10 overs, as they were once struggling at 49/3. The middle-order batters handled the innings with their solid innings. While Baba Aparajith scored 71 off 62 balls with eight fours and two sixes, Mohammed Azharuddeen played a smashing knock of 84 not out off just 58 balls with three fours and four sixes. 

Also, Vishnu Vinod (35) and MD Nidheesh (34*) played some helpful innings, while Mohammed Azharuddeen and Nidheesh had a 99-run partnership for the unbroken eighth wicket. Among the Karnataka bowlers, Abhilash Shetty got three wickets (3/59) and Shreyas Gopal picked up two wickets (2/61).

Devdutt Padikkal and Karun Nair slammed centuries after Mayank Agarwal's early dismissal

Although Karnataka captain Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for only one run in the second over, his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal and the no.3 batter Karun Nair completely controlled the chase with a 223-run partnership for the second wicket. 

Padikkal scored 124 runs off 137 balls with 12 fours and three sixes. Although Padikkal was dismissed, Karun Nair and Ravichandran Smaran guided the team to a successful chase. While Smaran scored 25 not out off 16 balls with four fours, the Player of the Match Karun scored a run-a-ball 130 not out with the help of 14 fours. 

India’s number three from the previous Test series against England in the United Kingdom, Karun Nair, struggled with the bat on his return to the national side. In 15 innings, the right-handed batter collected 579 runs at an average of 41.35 and a strike rate of 64.62 with the help of one fifty and the best score of unbeaten 303 runs.

Nair was dropped from the national side after his struggling UK trip, where he managed only one fifty in the fifth game at the Kennington Oval in South London. He was not considered for either of the home Test series against West Indies or South Africa as he returned to the Ranji Trophy 2025/26 and continued to collect truckloads of runs.

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In the game against Saurashtra, Nair smashed a fine 73 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot before nailing an unbeaten knock of 174 runs against Goa at Shimoga, while against Kerala, the Karnataka batter smacked 233 runs. In the previous contest against Chandigarh, he drilled 95 in Hubballi.

Karun Nair drops shocking tweet after India’s top-order struggle in 2nd Test against South Africa in Guwahati

Nair, who was the fourth leading run-getter in the last season’s of Ranji Trophy 2024/25 with the help of 863 runs in 16 innings at an average of 53.93 and a strike rate of 49.59 shouldering on four centuries and two fifties at the best score of 135, has overall 9277 runs in 201 innings of first-class cricket at an average of 50.41 with 26 centuries and 39 fifties.

Some conditions carry a feel you know by heart — and the silence of not being out there adds its own sting.

— Karun Nair (@karun126) November 24, 2025

“Some conditions carry a feel you know by heart — and the silence of not being out there adds its own sting.” Nair wrote on his X account (formerly known as Twitter) just moments after the top order and middle order of the Indian side put in an embarrassing batting performance in Guwahati.

South Africa posted 489 runs in the first innings thanks to the brilliant century of Senuran Muthusamy and 93 of Marco Jansen, while India found themselves strolling at 174/7 at the lunch break of the third day’s play.

When the Indian team was picked for the two-match home Test series against the West Indies, Karun Nair was removed from the national side after a poor show in the five-match away Test series against England in the United Kingdom. He returned in bad form during the series with 205 runs.

The BCCI chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, revealed that they expected a little more from Nair in England, as the 33-year-old also failed to make it into the India A squad for the forthcoming two-match red-ball series against the Proteas at home. After a 73 and eight against Saurashtra in the Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season opener, Karun crafted 174* against Goa on October 26.

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“There are certain goals that I’ve set for myself, which I wouldn’t want to talk about. But other than that, the primary goal would be to win games for the team. It’s quite disappointing (being dropped), but I know that I deserve to be there after the last two years (of domestic cricket) I’ve had. People might have their own opinions, but personally, my opinion is that I deserve a lot better.” Karun Nair expressed after the end of the clash.

Karun Nair breaks silence to slam Ajit Agarkar after Ranji Trophy 2025-26 century

The middle-order Indian batter didn’t hide his disappointment at being ignored by the national selection committee. Even though Nair didn’t address the issue of communication from the management, the veteran was determined not to give up.

“All I can do is keep scoring runs, that’s my job. There’s nothing much for me to say. I just keep telling myself that I deserve more than a series. That’s all I can tell myself, and not let that get into my head. All I want to do is to play for the country.” Nair addressed during the interaction.

“That’s the only target. If you’re not able to do that, the next thing would be to try to win games for the side I'm playing for. Few individuals in the team have had good conversations with me about how they feel, and that’s about it.” The Karnataka batter concluded.

Anvay Dravid, son of former India captain Rahul Dravid, has been named captain and wicketkeeper of Karnataka’s Under-19 team for the upcoming Vinoo Mankad Trophy. The tournament is India’s top junior one-day competition and has helped many young players make their mark. Anvay’s promotion to captain shows how well he has performed in recent years at the junior level.

The 18-year-old has been one of Karnataka’s most talented young batters. He was the team’s highest run-scorer in the previous edition of the Vinoo Mankad Trophy and has shown great maturity at a young age. His leadership appointment is seen as a reward for his reliability and ability to perform under pressure.

Anvay’s form in recent years has been nothing short of outstanding. In the Under-16 Vijay Merchant Trophy, he topped Karnataka’s run charts for the second straight season, scoring 459 runs in six matches at a brilliant average of 91.80, including two centuries and 46 boundaries. His calm and composed approach has made him a cornerstone of Karnataka’s youth structure.

Karnataka Squads for the New Season

The Karnataka Under-19 squad for the Vinoo Mankad Trophy includes Anvay Dravid (captain, wk), Nitish Arya, Adarsh D Urs, S Manikanth (vice-captain), Praneeth Shetty, Vasav Venkatesh, Akshath Prabhakar, C Vaibhav, Kuldeep Singh Purohit, Rathan BR, Vaibhav Sharma, KA Tejas, Atharv Malviya, Sunny Kanchi, and Rehan Mohammed (wk).

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Meanwhile, Karnataka’s senior team has announced its squad for the 2025 Ranji Trophy opener against Saurashtra. The big news is Karun Nair's return after playing a major role in Vidarbha's title-winning season last year. Mayank Agarwal will lead the team, with Kruthik Krishna, Shikhar Shetty, and Mohsin Khan coming into the team looking to make an impact as Karnataka look to start strong this coming season.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced its squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against the West Indies at home, which will start just a couple of days after the Asia Cup 2025 final. There isn’t any surprise under the leadership of Shubman Gill as the selectors have named Ravindra Jadeja as the vice-captain in the absence of injured Rishabh Pant.

The opening game will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad before the action moves to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi for the second encounter. They have picked three specialist all-rounders in the side, but the talking point has been around Karun Nair’s absence as their chief selector, Ajit Agarkar, revealed the reason.

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“We expected more from Karun Nair. It can’t be just one inning. Padikkal offers more. We would like to give 15-20 chances to everyone, but it is not possible in these circumstances. Padikkal has been in great form, and he was in the team.” Agarkar expressed in the press conference in Dubai.

Ajit Agarkar reveals reason to omit Karun Nair from IND vs WI Test squad

Nair didn’t enjoy a great time in the England series. He started with a duck at Leeds before getting two 25+ scores at Edgbaston. After being dropped from the side for the fourth Manchester Test, the right-handed batter returned for the last fixture at the Kennington Oval in South London to celebrate a fine half-century.

The former Vidarbha batter, who has returned to his old base, Karnataka, has notched up 579 runs in 15 innings of the red-ball format at an average of 41.35 and a strike rate of 64.62, with the help of one half-century and one century at the best score of unbeaten 303 runs. But this omission could be the end of his Test career.

The selection committee went ahead with Devdutt Padikkal, who drilled a fine knock of 150 in Lucknow against Australia A and looked in good touch for his 57 during the Duleep Trophy 2025 for the South Zone against North Zone at the BCCI Coe Ground in Bengaluru.

On the morning of September 25, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad for the upcoming Test series against the West Indies. It will be a 2-match Test series, starting from October 2 this year. The board has made a few changes for the series. 

As it was expected, Shubman Gill remains as the captain of team India Test side, but with a new deputy. Rishabh Pant has not recovered from the leg injury he sustained during the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, so the team management had to select a new vice captain for the series to assist Gill in leadership duties. Experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja is named as the vice captain of the team.

Because of the absence of Rishabh Pant, the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee had to reshuffle the wicketkeeping department. Dhruv Jurel is expected to be in the playing XI against the West Indies, and Narayan Jagadeesan to remain as a cover for the position. During the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, when Pant ruled out the Oval Test, Jurel came into the playing combination, and Jagadeesan joined Team India as a reserve keeper. 

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Multiple changes in squad for West Indies series 

BCCI has taken an interesting decision by dropping Karun Nair from the Test squad. He made his international comeback through the 5-match Test series against England, which was not a memorable account for him. In place of Nair, Devdutt Padikkal is named in the squad. Padikkal has been in brilliant form in the recent past.

Doubts over Jasprit Bumrah's availability were there. But the selectors decided to keep him in the squad along with Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, the other two pacers. Axar Patel returns to the Test side to tie a knot with Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. Nitish Kumar Reddy remains in the team as the pace bowling all-rounder. Shardul Thakur was dropped to make room for Patel, a spin bowling all-rounder in place of a pace bowling all-rounder. 

🚨 Presenting #TeamIndia's squad for the West Indies Test series 🔽#INDvWI | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/S4D5mDGJNN

— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2025

India squad for West Indies Tests:

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

It was a misunderstanding between the two former India and Karnataka batters, Karun Nair and Robin Uthappa, through a twisted interview, which led to the latter’s exit from the domestic side as the 2007 World Cup-winner revealed during a recent podcast. The wicket-keeper looked back at his frustration for not earning a call to the national side despite a strong domestic season.

Uthappa finished his career with an overall 9446 runs in 238 first-class innings at an average of 40.71 and a strike rate of 66.59 with the help of 22 centuries and 52 half-centuries at the best score of 162 runs. His comments were generic in nature as he claimed that another team-mate informed Nair about the twisted comments which was directed at the Indian batter.

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“At that point, I was trying to get into the Test team. I was frustrated because, despite performing well, I wasn’t even being considered. Maybe all of those emotions came out in the conversation. I said in the interview that Test caps were being given away too easily, and that some people really needed to earn them rather than just being given them freely.” Uthappa revealed in the podcast.

Robin Uthappa discloses his twisted interview rift with Karun Nair during 2016-17 season

Uthappa addressed Nair as his young brother. Later, the middle-order batter, who has scored 579 Test runs in 15 innings at an average of 41.35, went to Vidarbha for a couple of seasons, which led to his return to the national side. Now, he has again come back to the Karnataka side ahead of the 2025/26 domestic season.

“Someone from our team took that piece of the interview and told Karun Nair that I had said it about him. Karun Nair, who was like a younger brother, alienated me at that time because he was close to getting a Test cap. He didn’t check with me and believed it.” Uthappa shed light.

“I told them if anyone thought I was breaking the team, they should raise their hand and I would quit immediately. Nobody raised a hand, but I knew then there was an organised attack because I had become the players’ voice.” The 33-year-old, who was accused of creating divisions within the side, concluded.

Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa has opened up about being dropped and eventually leaving Karnataka after the 2016-17 domestic season. The right-handed batter shared the episode on the YouTube podcast First Umpire, explaining how his comments were misunderstood to be about Karun Nair, which prompted the latter to distance himself from him.

The 39-year-old recalled that after a match in Mumbai during the 2016-17 Ranji Trophy, he gave an interview explaining his disappointment at missing out on an opportunity to play Test cricket for India while saying some seemed to get a red shirt too easily.

He revealed that a teammate told Karun Nair that the remarks were aimed at him, and since the latter did not clarify the misunderstanding, he began keeping his distance. He said, “There was an interview. At that point, I was trying to get into the Test team. I was frustrated because despite performing well, I wasn’t even being considered. Maybe all of those emotions came out in the conversation. I said in the interview that Test caps were being given away too easily and that some people really needed to earn them rather than just being given them freely.”

“Someone from our team took that piece of interview and told Karun Nair that I had said it about him. Karun Nair, who was like a younger brother, alienated me at that time because he was close to getting a Test cap. He didn’t check with me and believed it. A few days later, some infighting started. When the interview came out, since it was in Bombay, and Bombay loves to dominate domestic cricket, the media there even portrayed it in a way that could be perceived as if I was talking about Karun. Karun believed it and distanced himself from me.”

“Not a Single Person Stood Up for Me”

Uthappa added that when the team qualified for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinals, a meeting was held in which he was accused of disrupting the team, and he revealed that not a single teammate spoke up in his defense. He said, “Later, there was a meeting in Karnataka. Generally, when we qualified for the quarterfinals, I had this habit of getting everyone together, inviting them home, sharing a meal and drinks, and building team unity. Before I could invite them home, there was a meeting in the stadium. I was called up and told I was breaking up the team and creating issues. Vijay Sir was in that meeting. I told Vijay Sir, ‘If anyone here feels I am breaking the team, raise your hand. If even one person does, I will stop playing for Karnataka right now.’ Not a single person raised their hand.”

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“It was just an orchestrated attack on me because I had won the trust of the team, and the boys came to me with their issues. That was working, but after I stood up for the team, no one stood up for me. I felt very let down. Combined with Karun feeling I was against him, that hurt me because he was like a younger brother. I wanted nothing more than for players like Karun, Rahul, and Manish to succeed and play for India. I felt really let down by the team because not even one person stood up for me.” Later that season, Robin Uthappa was omitted from Karnataka's 16-man squad for the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal against Tamil Nadu. Vinay Kumar’s team went on to lose the match by seven wickets.

Karun Nair had a lukewarm outing in the recently concluded Test series against England. Though the batter scored only one half century and rest remained the below 50-run mark, the fifty came in a crucial juncture of the fifth Test and was applauded by many fans and pundits alike.

One picture from his outing in England going viral as people are drawing parallels between him and India ODI captain Rohit Sharma. Karun unleashed a straight drive which mirrored the same as Rohit’s from one of his innings. Speaking of the same, the Karnataka batter refrained from taking the likening as compliment, rather he avoided the resemblance as saying that Rohit is much bigger player than him and he is just starting his career.

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"Everyone these days watches everything that goes around on social media, but you know that Rohit Sharma is a legend of the game & I don't really know what to say, it's nice to see but I would like to not compare myself with someone who is a legend of the game. It will be unfair to be compared to the legend, whereas I am just starting my career,” Karun said to Sports Yaari.

I’m going to work on it very soon: Karun Nair

Karun reflected on his maiden England tour by saying that he got to good starts but could not convert those starts into big scores. His highest score of 57 came in the final Test of the series and his other scores read, 40, 31, 26 and 21. He further added that though the outing was not what he imagined it to be, he has learnt the lesson.

I was batting really well throughout the series and I was getting starts in most games. But I was just not able to convert it, which was frustrating for me more than anyone else. The one lesson I’ve reflected upon is making sure that I convert the start that I get. I’ve spoken to a lot of people about it, and I’m going to work on it very soon,” he added.