Despite Karun Nair's impressive performance in domestic cricket, he did not find a place in India's Champions Trophy 2025 squad.

Nair's non-selection in the Indian squad for the next month's Champions Trophy, was criticised by many fans and former greats. Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh had targeted the selectors for ignoring Nair and raised questions.

The 33-year-old batsman scored upwards of 700 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. His prolific run saw him produce knocks of 122*, 112, 111*, 163*, 44* and 112*. He was one of the key reasons why his team, Karnataka, won the Vijay Hazare tile.

But the runs mattered a little as Nair failed to secure a spot in the Indian squad.

Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar has now also put forth his point regarding Nair's non-selection.

Gavaskar backed the selectors' decision and explained why Nair was not selected in the 15-member squad.

"Where would you fit him? You could have replaced KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer. KL will play the role of the second wicketkeeper-batsman for this team, and his performance was good during the 2023 World Cup. I don't think the Indian cricket team has played much ODI cricket after that. Shreyas Iyer has also performed well in this format. That's why Karun Nair was not selected." Gavaskar told Sports Tak.

"If his form remains like this during the Ranji Trophy, it will be difficult not to select him for Team India during the upcoming England Test tour.

On Saturday, In a press conference during the team announcement, Ajit Agarkar, the team's chief selector, was also asked about Nair's absence, to which he said, "Yes, it is tough. These are really special performances. I mean, someone who has a 700-plus, 750-plus average (before the Vijay Hazare final). We had discussions (about Karun). But at this point of time, it is very difficult to find a place in this team. "

Nair's non-selection in the Indian team comes at a time when the Indian cricket board has made it mandatory for the players to feature in domestic cricket matches.