Sunil Gavaskar and Cheteshwar Pujara have warned Karun Nair of consequences if he continues to fail in Test cricket. The 33-year-old was recalled to the team after seven years and was seen struggling in the first Test against England. He even registered a duck in one of the innings while batting at the No.6 position in Leeds. The team management retained him for the second game and also promoted him in the batting order. He took Sai Sudharsan’s No.3 spot, with the young batter getting dropped after a run of just one game.

Nair looked good during his stay in the middle but couldn’t convert his start into a big score, falling for an individual total of 31 runs.

Gavaskar was not pleased with the effort of the right-handed batter. “He is 30-plus and won’t get many series. Karun Nair needs to perform to stand a chance to play for another 4-5 years for India,” he said.

“It is his series, and he will have to make his performance count. He needs to score a hundred,” he added.

Pujara agreed with Gavaskar. “He would be disappointed. Karun was batting well than Yashasvi Jaiswal at one point but you have to go on to play a big knock after getting a start. He was dismissed on a good ball but you still want to contribute. I know he will get more chances. He has got a lot of experience and he should deliver with the bat. He won’t get many chances for India. He needs to realize that when you are getting starts, you need to make most of it,” he said.