Karun Nair's journey from despair to redemption in cricket, showcasing resilience and determination in his comeback to Test cricket.

In December 2022, in the middle of the domestic first-class season in which he took no part, India's second Test triple-centurion took to Twitter (now X), pleading with ‘dear cricket’ to ‘give me one more chance.’A string of poor scores had led to his exclusion from the Karnataka team he had captained not long back and he appeared at the end of his tether, his unbeaten 303 against England in Chennai in December 2016 a distant and painful memory despite the magnitude of that accomplishment.

- GNS News Agency, June 16

Karun's triple-hundred came as a bolt from the blue. Not that he didn’t have the skills or the ability — he had assiduously compiled a 14-and-a-half-hour 328 in the final of the Ranji Trophy against Tamil Nadu in March 2015, which Karnataka won by an innings — but it appeared dramatically, without warning. In his two previous Test innings, he had made 4 (run out after being sold a dummy by his captain Virat Kohli on debut in Mohali) and 13. There was no indication that a big one was coming.At Chepauk, he positively filled his boots. India had already secured an invincible 3-0 lead when they hosted England in the last of five Tests. For the second game in a row, the visitors topped 400 (477) on batting first, and India had eased to 211 for three when Karun strode out to join his state-mate K.L. Rahul, opening the batting. In the aforementioned Ranji final, the two came.together at 84 for five — Rahul had retired hurt when the team was 16, and watched from the dressing-room as Lakshmipathi Balaji ripped out the top order — and put on 386, effectively slamming the door on Abhinav Mukund’s side. Rahul's contribution in Karnataka’s 762 was a mellifluous 188.