“This could be a career-defining knock” - Ravi Shastri’s massive statement on Indian batter amid ENG vs IND 2025 5th Test

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes Karun Nair's unbeaten half-century on Day 1 of the ongoing fifth Test against England at the Oval could be career-defining. The 33-year-old returned to the Indian Test side after eight years for the England tour.

However, he failed to impress in the first three Tests of the series, scoring only 131 runs at an average of under 22. Nair was dropped for the fourth Test at Manchester before being a surprising inclusion in the ongoing Oval outing.

The right-hander capitalized on potentially his final opportunity, moving to 52* off 98 deliveries at stumps on the opening day.

Talking about Nair's knock after play on Day 1, Shastri told Sky Sports (10:15):

"He needs to go on and this could well be a career-defining knock. And it's in tough conditions so if he can convert this into a three-figure score or get a good 80-90 that takes India past 260, that'll be very good for him in the future."

Nair's heroics helped India recover from 123/5 on a seaming pitch to 204/6 in 64 overs at the end of the first day. It was only his second 50+ score in his Test career in 14 innings, with the first being the 303* against the same opponent in Chennai in 2016.

"You can say brainfade" - Ravi Shastri on Shubman Gill's run-out

Shubman Gill suffered from a costly error in judgement on Day 1 at the Oval [Credit: Getty]

Ravi Shastri called Shubman Gill's run-out on the opening day at the Oval a brainfade moment. Batting like a dream on 21, the Indian skipper took off for a non-existent single before being rightly sent back by Sai Sudharsan.

However, it was too little too late for Gill as the bowler picked up the ball and threw down the stumps at the striker's end to catch him well short of the crease.

"You can say brainfade or anything of that sort. Just an error in judgement and he was again batting well. Just seeing the way England have bowled today, he would have cashed in with those boundary balls. He would have been on his way by taking the attack to the opposition. It could have been a different story had he been there but that's a wicket that was thrown away," said Shastri (via the aforementioned source) (5:00)

Shastri also spoke about India's misfortune with the toss, saying:

"He's ( Gill) been the one calling. They must have discussed in the dressing room about what he's calling , heads or tails. I remember one of the tosses when South Africa were in India and Faf was the captain. He kept losing tosses and he called Temba Bavuma once just to do the calling and he also called wrong. But sometimes you desperately want to win it, especially with conditions like today."

It was India's 15th consecutive toss lost in international cricket, dating back to the home T20I series against England at the start of the year.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran