Indian batter Karun Nair is all set to return for Northamptonshire for the County Championship in April after going unsold in the IPL 2024 auction.

The 32-year-old will join Northamptonshire for 7 County Championship fixtures in April and May. Nair had a brief, yet successful stint with the Northants in the last season. He scored 78, 150 and 21 in his 3 innings.

The head coach of the Northants, John Sadler, expressed happiness over getting Nair on board for the 2nd consecutive season of the County Championship. Sadler praised Nair for his approach and the way he scored runs for the team.

“Not only did he score some incredible runs for us, his calmness, his temperament, and his hunger for more runs was superb,” Sadler said in a press release.

“We are delighted to get him on board with us again, and I’m sure he will be a super asset for us again this season,” Saddler said.

Earlier, there were doubts over Nair’s availability for the County Championship until December due to the possibility of the batter’s IPL commitments. However, he went unsold at the mini-auction that was held in Dubai and will be playing the first 7 games for Northamptonshire during the County season.

Nair thanked the County team for giving him yet another opportunity to represent them and is thrilled to return for another stint in the County Championship.

“I’m thrilled to be returning to Northamptonshire for another stint of County Championship cricket. Our aim is to win games and get promoted, and I’m excited to get stuck in with the bat and help the team secure victories,” Nair said.

“I would like to thank the coach and captain for believing in me and giving me this wonderful opportunity. I was really happy with my form last season, and hopefully I can get going right away and put big runs on the board.”

Nair has played 6 Tests and 2 ODIs for India and remains only one of the 2 men to score a triple century in Test cricket for India after Virender Sehwag. Nair scored 303 runs against England in Chennai in the 2016-17 series.

Prithvi Shaw will replace Nair in the latter half of the tournament. After a successful stint in the last year, Shaw agreed to return to the club for the second half of the season after representing Delhi Capitals in IPL 2024.