India, Aug. 1 -- When India captain Shubman Gill got the number of changes in the XI mixed up, he didn't miss Karun Nair's name. He was pretty clear about his return in the XI in place of Shardul Thakur, and so was the Indian team management about their eight-batter theory. Right through this five-Test series, they have preferred a batting option at No.8 and when Rishabh Pant was injured and Nitish Kumar Reddy was already out, it was a given that they would fall back to Karun Nair.

Karun Nair's 'second chance' hadn't really gone to plan. In the six chances that he got, the experienced right-hander failed to register a single half-century despite getting his eyes in on pretty much every occasion. He was dropped from the XI at Old Trafford...