Karun Nair is a right handed opening batsman and an occasional off-break bowler. Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Karun represents Karnataka in domestic cricket. He has played for Karnataka at all junior levels. He has also represented India's U-19 team touring Australia.

Karun was signed by the Bangalore team for the fifth edition of the Indian T20 League in 2012 but could not play more than 2 games. He had an excellent 2013-14 Ranji season in which he scored three centuries in six matches including an innings of 151 not out in the semi-final. He was under perfect guidance of Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson and Brad Hodge as he was a part of the Rajasthan team in the 2014 season of Indian T20 League. In 2016 auction, Nair was bought by the Delhi franchise for a whopping Rs 4 crore, 40 times his base price.

After delivering on a consistent basis for Karnataka and India A, Karun Nair finally got a call for the national team in 2015 when he replaced an injured Murali Vijay on the Sri Lankan tour. However, he never got a chance to break into the playing XI. Finally, in 2016 he made his Test debut against England in Mohali and made it count by scoring a mammoth triple ton in only his third Test.