Published 12:06 IST, January 19th 2025
'You Don’t Pick Players Based On Form': Harbhajan Singh Calls The BCCI Out Publicly Over Karun Nair's Champions Trophy Snub
Karun Nair stellar performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy grabbed a lot of eyeballs. The 33-year-old scored 779 runs at an average of 389.50

Champions Trophy 2025: After the debacle in the New Zealand home Test series and the recently culminated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series, Team India's next big assignment is the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy that will be jointly hosted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB). The Champions Trophy will be played in the 'Hybrid Model' and India are scheduled top play all their matches in Dubai. The BCCI announced the Indian team for the upcoming marquee ICC event with Rohit Sharma as the captain and Shubman Gill as his deputy.
India have picked a very safe squad for the tournament and it is almost similar to what they had done with the 2023 ODI World Cup squad. The batting unit looks almost very similar, but few fans and experts of the game were expecting Sanju Samson and Karun Nair to make the cut. Nair took the recently culminated Vijay Hazare Trophy by storm as he ended up scoring 779 runs from 9 matches.
Harbhajan Singh Slams The BCCI
After India's debacle in Australia and voices calling out the superstar culture that exists in the team, the BCCI apparently made it mandatory for all the international players to compete in the domestic tournaments, considering their injuries and the formats that they play. Star India players such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are already being slammed from every corner due to their reluctancy to play domestic games. Karun Nair was not picked up in India's Champions Trophy squad despite a stellar show in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and that hasn't gone down too well with Harbhajan Singh.
'Is there a point playing Domestic cricket when you don’t pick players based on form & performance ? #KarunNair', wrote Harbhajan on his X (formerly known as Twitter) account. Nair will still have to wait to wear his India blue and it will be interesting to see whether the selectors reward him for his Vijay Hazare Trophy show.
Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar Opens Up On The Nair Snub
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Nair ended up scoring five stellar hundreds and a fifty in the Vijay Hazare Trophy tournament and drew selector's attention towards him. Ajit Agarkar too opened up on Nair's snub and gave his rationale behind not picking the 33-year-old.
'I mean, those are really special performances and I mean someone who averages about 700+, 750 + or something, we did have a chat, no doubt about it, when those kind of performances happen. At the moment, to find a spot in this team is very difficult. Look at the guys who have been picked. All average well in excess of mid-40s. Unfortunately, you can't fit everyone in a squad of 15. But those performances certainly make you take notice', said Agarkar
Updated 12:06 IST, January 19th 2025