IND vs ENG: Karun Nair's day of 3 cheers

Karun Nair achieved on Monday what his childhood friend and Karnataka mate KL Rahul could not the previous day.

And, even bigger is what he has done what no Indian Test batsman has before.

The 25-year-old Nair made special his maiden Test hundred by converting it into not just a double the day after his Bengaluru mate Rahul missed it by one run but converted it into a triple hundred that only West Indies legend Garfield Sobers (365*) and former Australian captain Bob Simpson (311) have done before.

Nair did not chase a widish delivery to reach the coveted milestone. Instead, on 299, he cut leg-spinner Adil Rashid for a four to reach 303 after nearly nine-and-a-half hours of intense concentration that started at the fall of Virat Kohli's wicket before tea on the third day and continued till final half hour of Day Four play.

Captain Kohli waited for Nair to reach his triple century before declaring the innings closed at 759/7 for an overall lead of 282 runs. England reached 12 without loss and need another 270 to avoid innings defeat on the fifth and final day on Tuesday and also the prospect of going down 0-4.

The day was all about Nair, who became the second Indian ever after Virender Sehwag to score a Test triple century, the feat coming in only his third innings in the longest format.

The manner in which he paced his innings was brilliant. Ensuring that India wiped out the first innings deficit in the company of Ravichandran Ashwin, Nair began to accelerate, taking only 75 deliveries to move from double hundred to triple. During this phase, he was lucky to be dropped by Joe Root at slip when on 217, medium-pacer Jake Ball being the unlucky bowler.

But there were no other anxious moments in his innings. At 197, Nair drove along the ground through covers a good-length delivery from medium-pacer Keaton Jennings for four to reach the landmark.

On the best batting pitch that the teams have come across in the series, Nair shared century stands for the sixth and seventh wickets with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, respectively.

Nair is not new to making big score. In only his second first-class season, he scored 328 for Karnataka against Tamil Nadu in the 2014-15 Ranji Trophy final in Mumbai.

Unlike Rahul, Nair did not have Kohli in the middle to jump in joy and celebrate his maiden Test century in his third appearance, the moment coming an hour and a quarter into the morning session when he square drove Ben Stokes to the point boundary.

Instead, it was a quiet pat on the back by Murali Vijay after the Karnataka batsman soaked in the occasion of reaching his century in front of an appreciative Chennai audience at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, acknowledged the applause from the stands and also his team-mates.

He, though, was tied down on 99 for five deliveries by Stokes with seven fielders blocking that one run on the off-side. Only the previous over, Nair pulled left-arm spinner Liam Dawson short ball to fine leg for a single to move to 99. He was disappointed that he could not put away that loose delivery to the fence and cross the important landmark in his fledgling career.

The stocky right-hander from Bengaluru has scored a century at No. 5, something that was elusive in this series from that position. Mumbai's Ajinkya Rahane, who has been India's No. 5 until Mohali and had to miss out due to a finger injury, had been struggling for runs this series.

When the opportunity rose, Nair has grabbed it with both hands and made the most of the firm batting surface for the fourth day in a row even as the groundsmen were called on to repair the damage at the popping crease at the north end of the ground.

The England bowlers toiled, went through the motions hoping that batsmen make mistakes. Murali Vijay, in the first session, and R Ashwin in the third, obliged the visitors but not before enough damage has been made to the already demoralised England camp.

Nair could not have asked for a better platform to prove his mettle after missing out on the two previous Test innings that had scores of four (in Mohali) and 13 (in Mumbai). A batsman of the IPL era, the upper cuts and reverse sweeps were mixed with conventional strokes straight from the formbook.

By scoring a century here, Nair has given another headache to the Indian management if Rahane is fit to return for the one-off Test against Bangladesh in February 2017 followed by the four-Test series against Australia.