NEW DELHI: Vidarbha batter Karun Nair accomplished a significant achievement by reaching 8,000 runs in First-Class cricket. He reached this milestone while playing in the Ranji Trophy final against Kerala at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur on Wednesday.
Playing his 114th First-Class match, Nair came to bat at the fifth position in the 13th over when Kerala had reduced the home team to 24 for three after choosing to bowl. He achieved the milestone upon reaching 10 runs.
The accomplished batter scored a century in Vidarbha’s final league match against Hyderabad and subsequently scored his 22nd First-Class hundred in the quarter-final win against Tamil Nadu.
Nair had scored over 600 runs before the final which included three centuries and one fifty.
This current Ranji final marks Nair’s fourth appearance in a final, following his two appearances with Karnataka between 2013-15 and one with Vidarbha last year, where they finished second to Mumbai.
In his inaugural First-Class season (2013-14), Nair participated in the final where Karnataka defeated Maharashtra to secure the championship. The following year, he played a remarkable innings of 328 in the final against Tamil Nadu, earning the Player of the Match award as Karnataka retained their title.
This January, the 33-year-old established a world record for consecutive runs in List A cricket without being dismissed, scoring over 500 runs before losing his wicket against Uttar Pradesh during the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
He surpassed the previous world record of 527 consecutive runs in List A cricket without dismissal, held by New Zealand’s James Franklin since 2010. His final tally reached 542 runs, making him the first Indian to achieve this milestone.
In the previous year, he joined former opener Virender Sehwag as only the second Indian batter to score a triple century. He also became the fastest to register a maiden triple century in Test cricket history.
Delhi Capitals secured Nair’s services for Rs 50 lakh in the IPL 2025 mega auction held last November.
