India captain Shubman Gill was heavily criticised for not backing Karun Nair for ‘one more Test’ after the right-hander was dropped from the playing XI in the fourth Test in Manchester against England. Nair, who made an India comeback after eight long years, made a brilliant double hundred for India A against England Lions.

But when it mattered the most, the Karnataka batter’s scores read 0, 20, 31, 26, 40 and 14. While he batted at no.6 in the first Test in Leeds, Nair was elevated to the crucial no.3 spot in the next two in Birmingham and Lord’s. At Old Trafford, Sai Sudharsan replaced Nair at no.3.

Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif opined that Nair deserved one more chance. He also stated that by dropping Nair, Gill lost a chance to earn respect when it comes to making tough decisions.

“Today was Shubman Gill‘s chance to back karun who was down but deserved one more chance. He should have picked Karun Nair. Chance missed to earn the respect when it comes to making tough decisions as a leader,” Kaif wrote on X.

Shubman Gill backs batter Karun Bair 

Earlier, Gill had backed Nair despite his poor form in the ongoing Test series. The Indian captain admitted that Nair didn’t bat at his batting position in Leeds but said there’s been no issue with his batting.

“We have had conversations with him (Nair). We think Karun is batting well. (In) first match, he didn’t played at his number. It’s difficult when a player is making a comeback in a series like this, and but I don’t think there’s any issue with his batting.

“He’s been batting well. It’s also about getting that click,” Gill had said in a press conference. Besides Nair, India made two more changes with Shardul Thakur and Anshul Kamboj replacing Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep. While Akash Deep had a groin issue, Reddy was ruled out of the series with a knee injury.