MUMBAI, July 20 -- Picked for the England series after eight years, Karun Nair always had big shoes to fill. Never mind his heavy scoring in domestic cricket to come back into India contention, he had an edge over other contenders mainly because the team was looking for experience to fill the vacuum after Virat Kohli's sudden retirement. The extra first-class seasons under the 33-year-old's belt is the reason he was preferred over young Sai Sudarshan when it came to making a choice between the two or picking him ahead of Sarfaraz Khan in the squad. After three Tests, the jury is out on whether the selectors and team management have backed the right horse. His highest score is 40 in six innings. Frustratingly for the Indian team's supporters, Nair has been off to starts but unable to build on them - there have been 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14. The third Test defeat at Lord's has put the Indian team under immense pressure as the visitors are trailing 1-2 in the series with two matches left. After the second innings top-order collapse at Lord's, which led to the 22-run defeat in the end, Nair's place in the eleven has come under scrutiny. Nair has got the chance he desperately wanted, and it is make or break time again. As left-hand batter Sudarshan's name is also being considered for the fourth Test starting at Old Trafford on Wednesday, the Karun Nair camp vouches for him, hoping he gets another Test. They know he has more potential than what's been on display so far in England. Nair's childhood coach Vijayakumar Madyalkar, who was instrumental in his comeback to the Test team by helping him hone his game, says: "We haven't seen him in any discomfort (against any bowler), the only thing is he is getting out to wicket-taking deliveries. It is not that he is getting beaten or throwing his wicket. Definitely you get more wicket-taking deliveries when you play at the top level. Something like that is going to happen at the top level. Sometimes you need that element of luck too." Madyalkar, who coached Nair at the Just Cricket academy in Bengaluru and also in the Karnataka Premier League side, Karnataka Mysore Warriors, adds: "He will make a strong comeback, he is known for that. I am very confident, a hundred is due." Nair doesn't have big runs to show but the decision makers will have to also consider whether he is doing the job for the team, which starts with providing the platform for the innings. There's an 80-run partnership for the second wicket in the first innings at Birmingham with skipper Shubman Gill, which culminated in a total of 587. After a fluent 31, he was caught off a short, sharp ball from Brydon Carse. At Lord's, can a knock of 40 be considered a failure in terms of usefulness to the team? Lasting till the 21st over, Nair soaked in the early pressure while dominating his second wicket stand of 61 runs with KL Rahul. He was undone by a superb one-handed catch at first slip by Joe Root. He had a brain fade in the second innings at Lord's when he shouldered arms to fall leg before, but overall his coaches are convinced that he has been falling to good deliveries or good catches. Wasting a start is usually attributed to a lapse in concentration, it is when a player plays a shot which is not required. With Nair that is not the case, says his coach. Only the last innings was poor judgement. "He has not played a shot out of overconfidence. His mode of dismissals do not show that he has got carried away. His routines are perfect. He is batting confidently, and that is how it should be, but he is not hitting shots which are not there," says Madyalkar. In his comeback bid, Nair has batted brilliantly for Vidarbha in first-class cricket, scoring 863 (2024-25) runs and 690 (2023-24) in the Ranji Trophy. So, which aspect of his game is missing at the international level? Vidarbha coach Usman Ghani feels it's not about loss of concentration or a technical issue rather his game is more suited to middle-order than top order. "He bats at Nos.4 or 5 for Vidarbha in multi-day games. You have to fulfil the team's requirement whatever it is, but he will be at his best at No.5. The team management knows best but they can do one change, Nitish Reddy can go one drop, he plays at No.3 in first-class cricket, and Nair can go at No.6. Or if Rishabh Pant doesn't recover then Karun can bat at No.5," says Ghani. Nair or Sudarshan is no easy decision for Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir. It depends on what they are looking at. Even though the series scoreline is against them, India have dominated most of the days in the series. Whether they can take a chance of making changes or go in with a settled combination is the dilemma for Gambhir. Good teams are a combination of youth and experience. Nair offers experience in a side packed with in-form young batters, feels Ghani. "This being a young batting side, you need a player like Nair there. It is a crucial juncture in the series, and they should persist with him for all five matches. If he doesn't do well then he will automatically go out." The importance of the next two Tests in Nair's career is not lost on the player or his coaches. Madyalkar advised that the best way is to play for the team. "Every game is a do-or-die situation, and he knows how to deal with it. When you look to give a hundred per cent for the team, the best will come out. Thinking that I need to safeguard my place doesn't help. If you play for the team it helps more. Nair knows it and he will come back strong."...