Karun Nair Bio: Triple Century, Wife, IPL & Salary

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Indian cricket has always been blessed with great batting talents. However, despite the rich legacy, no one had scored a triple test century after Virendra Sehwag.

Later, another Indian triple Centurian search ended when Karun Nair scored 303, not out against India.

Karun Nair, 32 years old, is a professional cricketer and played for Karnataka and Kolkata Knight Riders (IPL) in domestic cricket. Nair has also played for India in ODI and test cricket. 

Karun Nair during ODI debut Vs Zimbabwe
Karun Nair during ODI debut Vs. Zimbabwe

Nair has already escaped twice in his life. Although deemed the top prospect of India cricket, he hasn’t played for the national side since 2017.

Likewise, he has struggled to maintain his batting form recently. To find more about Nair and his cricket journey stays till the end. 

Before going to the detail of the cricket player, let’s check some quick facts about Nair.

Quicks Facts

Full Name Karun Kaladharan Nair
Birth Date December 6, 1991
Birth Place Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India
Nick Name Kulla
Religion Hinduism
Nationality Indian
Ethnicity Unknown
Education Chinmaya Vidyalaya

The Frank Anthony Public School

Jain University

Horoscope Sagittarius
Father’sName Kaladharan Nair
Mother’sName Prema Nair
Siblings Shruti Nair (sister)
Age 32 Years Old
Height 1.68 m (5 feet 6 inches)
Weight 67 kg (148 lbs)
Body Measurement Chest (38 inches), Waist (31 inches), Biceps (12 inches)
Hair Color Black
Eye Color Black
Batting style Right Hand Batsman
Bowling Style Right-arm off-break
Marital Status Married (2020)
Wife Sananya Tankariwala
Children Yes (1 son)
Profession Indian Cricketer
Net Worth 10 crores
Salary 5 lakhs 
Domestic Teams   Karnataka, Kolkata Knight Riders(2021)
Previous Teams Royal Challengers Banglore, Rajasthan Royals, Delhi DareDevils
Current Teams Rajasthan Royals
Active Since 2012- present
Social Media Twitter, Instagram
Jersey Number 69
Merch Jerseys, Bats
National Team India Cricket Team
Test Debut (cap 287) November 26, 2016, vs. England
ODI Debut (cap 212) June 11, 2016, vs. Zimbabwe
IPL Debut  2013
ICC Ranking Unavailable
Cricket Merch Bat, Ball, Apparel
Last Update March, 2024

Karun Nair | Early Life, Family, and Education

On December 6, 1991, Karun Nair was born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. His father’s name is Kaladharan Nair, and his mother’s name is Prema Nair. He is born to Malayali parents.

Nair is originally from Kerala, but his family had settled in Karnataka’s capital city Bengaluru for a long time.

Likewise, Nair’s father is a mechanical engineer, and his mother is a teacher. He also has a sister named Shruti Nair. At the moment, his sister is married and resides in the states. 

Talking about the education of the cricket player, he attended Chinmaya Vidyalaya, where his mother taught until fourth grade.

After that, he joined The Frank Anthony Public School for his high school degree. Upon completing high school, he joined Jain University.

Nair completed his college studies at Jain University with a Bachelor of Commerce degree. 

Death Escape

Nair’s mother said in an interview that his son was born prematurely. So, in his childhood, Nair suffered from lung problems. Doctors were the ones who suggested Nair for playing sports. 

Later, in 2016 after his India ODI debut, his relatives organized thanksgiving at Aranmula Temple, Kerala.

But, the snake boat that Nair and his relatives were traveling on met an accident. Few people died, including his relatives.

However, he narrowly escaped death after being rescued by villagers. That incident deeply affected Nair. 

Karun Nair | Height and Body Measurement

Nair is an athletic guy, no doubt there. But, as a sportsman, one always has to stay fit and healthy.

To maintain his body Nair always workouts. He combines bodyweight and gym exercises to stay in shape. 

Nair’s height is 1.68 m (5 feet 6 inches) and weighs around 67 kg (148 lbs). Likewise, his other body measurement is chest (38 inches), Waist (31 inches), Biceps (12 inches). 

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Karun Nair | International Career & Records 

ODI Debut

On June 11, 2016, Karun Nair made his ODI debut against Zimbabwe in 3 match series. In his first-ever match, India was chasing a score of 168. There Nair opened with KL Raul.

But sadly, he could not reach a double-digit figure scoring only 7 runs. So it was the forgettable debut for Nair. Still, India won the match by 9 wickets.

Likewise, in his next match, Nair also missed the opportunity to score big runs. Instead, he again opened for India with KL Rahul. He scored impressive 39 runs in 68 balls with five 4s.

This was his last match for India as he has not featured for India since then. India later cleans sweep the series-winning by 3-0.  

Triple Centurian

On December 8, 2016, Nair made his test debut against England. Nair was called as an injury replacement for India opener Shikhar Dhawan.

Nair is the second Indian player to score a triple century. Later, in his third ever test inning for India, Nair scored a triple century against England on December 19, 2016.

India won the match and cleaned swept series 4-0. Likewise, Nair was also named man of the match for his excellent triple hundred.

Nair is the only player after Virendra Sehwag to score a triple century for India. Karun is also the third player to convert his maiden test century into a triple century after Bob Simpson and Sir Garfield Sobers. 

Later, even after scoring triple hundred in his previous test, Nair could not play in a test match against Bangladesh.

However, in India’s first test series of 2017 against Australia, the India team was called up again.

But his next 4 innings ended in a disappointing run with 26, 0, 23, and 5. Since then, Nair hasn’t played for India in any format. 

Karun Nair | Domestic Career

Karnataka

During the 2013-14 Ranji trophy Nair made his first-class debut for Karnataka. In his first season, Nair won the tournament.

He also scored three consecutive hundred in their final league game. He scored a century twice during knockout—one of them in semis against Punjab, where Nair scored not out 151.

Later, in the 2014-15 season, Karnataka won the Ranji Trophy again. In the overall tournament, Nair scored 709 in 10 matches. 

After a knock of 328, Nair became the second Karnataka player to score a triple hundred.

Likewise, the only player to score a triple hundred in the Ranji Trophy final since 1946-47. Karun’s knock was also the highest run by any batsman in the Ranji final.

Indian Premier League

Bench Warmer

As a young talented batsman, Nair warmed benched most of the time in the 2012 and 2013 IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Banglore.

Breakthrough Campaign

In 2014, Rajasthan Royals bought talented batsman Nair in the Ipl auction after RCB didn’t retain him. On May 3, 2014, Nair scored season-best 73, not out as Royals defeated Delhi by 7 wickets.

Likewise, in 11 matches, Nair scored 330 runs at a strike rate of 142.24. There he scored 3 fifties. 

Since his 2014 IPL campaign Nair has been a dependable middle-order batsman for any team. 

In 2015, Nair didn’t perform well with the bat. However, he was an important batsman to help the Royals reach the playoff. Over 14 matches, he scored 181 runs at a 124.82 strike rate. 

Expensive Uncapped Player

After Rajasthan Royals was suspended from IPL for 2 years, Nair was in the auction market.

Nair had a base price of 10 lakhs, and Delhi daredevils paid 40 times more. So DD bought for 4 cores.

Nair displayed impressive performance as per price. But 2016 IPl was the most productive for Karun. In 14 games, he scored 357 runs (career-best) at 120.20, including 3 half-centuries.

Karun Nair playing for Delhi
Karun Nair playing for Delhi

Likewise, on May 20, 2015, Nair scored career-best 83 runs in a 6 wicket win against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Although the team struggled in the 2016 IPL campaign, Nair showed impressive performance with the bat. 

Downfall 

In 2018 Nair was purchased by Kings XI Punjab. In his first campaign with Punjab, Nair again crossed 300 marks run at a 136.19 strike rate.

However, the next 2 season has been devastating for Nair. He just played in one match during the 2019 season. Likewise, in 2020 IPL, he only played in  4 matches scoring 16 runs.

Coronavirus 

In July 2020, Nair was tested Covid positive. However, before the IPL campaign, he recovered and traveled to the United Arab Emirates.

New Journey

Punjab released Nair before the 2021 IPL auction. Later, Nair was bought by two times IPL champion Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2021 IPL campaign.

For the 2022 season, he was bought by the Rajasthan Royals in the auction for the 2022 Indian Premier League tournament.

Karun Nair | Career Stats

Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 6 2 76 78
Runs scored 374 46 5,436 1,953
Batting average 62.33 23.00 50.33 31.50
100s/the 50s 1/0 0/0 14/25 2/12
Top score 303* 39 328 120
Balls bowled 12 – 1269 750
Wickets 0 – 13 14
Bowling average – – 52.30 44.78
5 wickets in innings – – 0 0
10 wickets in the match – – 0 0
Best bowling – – 2/11 2/16
Catches/stumpings 3/– 0/– 64/– 29/–

You can check the test record of Karun on cricbuzz.com sites.

Karun Nair | Salary & Net Worth

Karun Nair has made good money throughout his cricket career. He made earnings from both international and domestic cricket careers.

In IPL, during his first and second seasons with RCB, he earned 8 lakhs each season. Later, in 2014 Nair was bought by Rajasthan Royal for 75 lakhs.

In 2016, he earned 4 core per season till 2017. Then in Kings XI Punjab, he earned 5.6 core for 3 consecutive seasons. Recently, in 2021, Kolkata Knight Riders signed Nair for 50 lakhs.

Karun Nair has earned a total of 20.69 core from his IPL career 

As C grade player Nair earns 1 core per year from BCCI. According to reliable sources, the estimated net worth of Karun Nair is 10 cores.

Read Also: Rinku Singh Bio: Early Life, Career, Girlfriend & Net Worth >>

Karun Nair | Love Life and Family

The Indian cricketer player Karun is a married man. As for his personal life, the player got engaged to his long-term girlfriend, Sananya Tankariwala, in 2019.

Later, on January 19, 2020, the couple married at Hotel Fateh Grah Udaipur. Many of his family and close friends attended the private wedding ceremony.

Likewise, as of July 2021, Karun announced that his wife was pregnant and that they were expecting a newborn by January 2022.

As expected, they welcomed their first child as a boy on January 8, 2022. They named their baby boy Kayaan Nair.

Karun is all set to embrace fatherhood with his wife Sanaya Takariwala and is seen taking care of his baby on his Instagram account.

Social Media Presence

Instagram: 417k Followers

Twitter: 398k Followers

Trivia

  • Karun Nair idol is Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.
  • Nair is the second Indian to score a triple-test century.
  • He wears jersey number 69 in domestic and for the Indian team.
  • Nair’s favorite club is Manchester United.
  • Nair’s favorite shot is Inside-out.
  • His hobbies are watching movies.
  • Nair’s favorite movie is Chak De India. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened to Karun Nair?

Since his test match against Australia in 2017, Nair has not been called into the Indian team. In addition, he has not scored a hundred in domestic cricket in any format since 2017.

Similarly, in his last 2 IPLs, Nair has played only 5 matches scoring 16 runs for King XI Punjab.

Who has scored a triple century for India? 

On March 29, 2004, Virendra Sehwag scored India’s first triple test century against Pakistan. He again scored another triple test century against South Africa in 2008.

Then, on December 19, 2016, Karun Nair became the second Indian to score a triple test hundred. He scored 303, not out against England. 

What is Virender Sehwag and Karun Nair record?

This is the fastest triple century by any player; Sehwag got to the landmark in 278 balls. Karun Nair scored 303* in 2016 against England in Chennai and became the second Indian after Sehwag to score a triple century.
 
He could have surpassed Sehwag’s record, but India declared after reaching the milestone.

When did Nair Make his debut Match Against England?

Nair made his debut match against England on November 26, 2016, at Mohali.

When did Karun start his career in cricket?

Karun started playing cricket at the age of 10. After moving to Banglore, he joined Koramangala Cricket Academy. At 13, he was already playing for U-19 in inter-academy matches.

What is the mother-tongue language of Nair?

Nair’s mother tongue language is Malayalam. Besides his mother tongue, he speaks several other languages such as English, Hindi, Kannada, and Tami.

Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah
Sanjib Sah is an engineer and content writer passionate about sports and athletics. With a background in engineering and a love for all things active, Sanjib brings a unique perspective to the world of sports writing. Whether he is covering the latest trends in sports technology or sharing tips on improving your game, Sanjib's words are always rooted in a deep appreciation for players' hard work and dedication everywhere. In his free time, you can find him hitting the courts or hitting the trails, always looking for new ways to challenge himself and improve his skills.

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