Life has come full circle: Karun Nair reflects on his return to India's Test fold

In 2018, Karun boarded the plane that flew to England but couldn't earn a spot in the final XI throughout the tour. In the aftermath of the series, Karun was dropped from the Test fold and put in the hard yards in the domestic setup to climb his way back to the team.

After dazzling in the last Ranji Trophy season, Karun returned to the side seven years later for a tour of England, the same venue that marked his exit from the team. The retirements of batting bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli opened enough space for his return as India eyes its first Test win at Headingley since 2002 under the brand new leadership of Shubman Gill.

"Life has come to a full circle. I went out of the team in England, and now I am coming back to the team in England, so it has been a while, and I am trying to embrace that," the 33-year-old batter said in a video posted by the BCCI.

Throughout this phase, Karun never lost belief, kept his hunger intact, and finally got back on the team after seeing all his teammates. As he prepares for another opportunity to cement his place in the team, Karun feels honoured to wear the Indian jersey again.

"My first thought when I woke up was I want to play Test cricket, I want to play for India again. That's probably what kept me going and kept me hungry, the driving force to go to training every day to go to practice every day. Never losing that belief and having that target to reach was something that helped me. Feeling honoured to wear this jersey and honoured to represent my country," he said.

"When I saw everyone for the first time, that's where I really felt it, that I am finally in the team. Till then, it was like a wait for me to kind of start feeling that I had made it again. Don't chase perfection; try and dream big. Have that belief in yourself that anything can happen at any point of time. Hi, this is Karun Nair, and I am ready to go," he added.

India's squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav.