India batter Karun Nair served another reminder of his purple patch ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy with a century in the Ranji Trophy quarterfinal. Playing for Vidarbha, the batter scored 122 in the first innings of the QF against Tamil Nadu. The century comes after his extravagant Vijay Hazare Trophy - domestic 50-over tournament - where he scored 779 runs in nine matches including five hundreds at an average of 389.50

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Nair, however, wasn't selected in India's provisional 15-man Champions Trophy squad, which was termed unfortunate by some ex-cricketers.

Also Read: 2025 Champions Trophy: List of players doubtful or ruled-out of tournament

“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,” BCCI chief selector Ajit Agarkar had said at the press conference while announcing India's CT squad.

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The teams, however, are yet to submit the final squad to the ICC for which the deadline is Tuesday (Feb 11). The batter could still make the cut technically. The call-up, however, seems unlikely as India already won their two matches in the ongoing ODI series against England and all the batters are doing a decent job so far.

Meanwhile, Bengal player Manoj Tiwary also backed Nair to make it to the squad. 

"I felt Karun Nair should have gotten an opportunity because he is in tremendous form. But somehow Agarkar, the chief selector, said that he couldn't make a place for him which is unfortunate," said Tiwary while answering a media query during a recent charity match on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

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India Champions Trophy Squad:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja