Former England skipper Michael Vaughan made a bold statement on Karun Nair's selection in the upcoming tests in the team's playing XI if India loses the third Test at Lord's. The right-handed batter made his comeback to the national team after a long wait of eight years and wasn't able to impress with his performances up to now in the ongoing five-match Test series.
To date, he has played a total of 6 innings in which he scored 0, 20, 31, 26, 40, and 14. He was promoted to No. 3 after the first Test at Leeds but is yet to dominate the English team with his bat. When he comes to bat, he looks at a very stable and good note but loses his wicket at the wrong juncture. He faced Brydon Carse at the short-pitched deliveries earlier in the series and had to face Jofra Archer in the Lords Test.
In the second innings, after India bundled England to a score of 193, Nair came to bat after Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed early in the second over. He was paired up with KL Rahul on the other end for the remaining overs in the final session of Day 4.
Talking about all this, Vaughan stated that Nair might get another chance despite his failure if India wins the Lords Test. He said,
"If India wins, I think Nair will be fine. If India loses, I think his time will be up. That's just the nature. If England loses tomorrow, there will be so many questions about two or three of the England players. I think for Karun Nair, he needs Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Jadeja to hold their nerve and get India over the line. If they lose, that leave will be analyzed a lot more than we are analyzing it now."
Further, he said,
"Karun Nair leaves a straight one, it must be. To think that he has left that delivery, which just cracked open the game. Akash Deep is the first ever player that has been hit on the inside of the thigh and needed tape. I've never seen a batter need tape."