Karun Nair re-signed by Karnataka, Vasuki Koushik moves to Goa

Karun Nair will return to Karnataka for the upcoming 2025/26 domestic season and has been re-signed by the team. The batter was with Vidarbha for two seasons (2023 and 2024) after he was dropped from his home team in 2022. While Nair returns to Karnataka, the team’s pacer Vasuki Koushik will now play for Goa in the next season.

Karun returns, Koushik out of Karnataka

As per Cricbuzz, Nair has decided to return to Karnataka due to personal reasons and has been re-signed by the team. The report states that pacer Koushik had sought a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to play for Goa. The pacer will now play alongside Arjun Tendulkar in his new team.

“We have signed Koushik. So far, that is the only confirmed transfer. We are exploring a few other options, but no names have been finalised yet,” GCA secretary Shambha Desai said.

Goa had attempted to acquire the services of Yashasvi Jaiswal earlier in May. The southpaw was even granted a NOC by the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to play for the new team. However, weeks later, he decided to make a U-turn and expressed his desire to continue playing for Mumbai due to personal reasons.

Karun Nair was an exceptional performer in all the formats, where he piled on 863 runs in the Ranji Trophy, and then scored 779 runs in the Vijay Hazare while representing Vidarbha. Nair is currently with the Indian team in England as he made his comeback to the Test team after a gap of over 7 years.

Meanwhile, 32-year-old Koushik has 93, 82 and 48 wickets in first-class, List A and T20s respectively. He was one of Karnataka’s frontline pacers until the previous domestic season.