Karun Nair made a statement of intent with his knock against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi Capitals' first home game this season.
Though DC lost the game, Nair made his intentions clear. He was hungry to get a game, and he proved himself at the very first opportunity.
Nair scored 89 runs off 40 balls, taking a special liking to Jasprit Bumrah. He hit the lead MI pacer for 26 runs off nine balls, hitting him for two sixes and three fours.
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Karun Nair Scored 28 Runs Off 9 Balls Against Jasprit Bumrah
There was an intense face-off between the two during the game as well, but later on, they patched up and were all smiles. After the match, DC Assistant Coach Hemang Badani shared an interesting story about the Karnataka batter.
Hemang Badani On Karun Nair
He recalled how Karun Nair kept on bothering him and asking him about when he would be getting a game. He finally got a game and made a stylish return to the IPL in three years. It was his first IPL fifty in seven years, as Nair broke every batting record in domestic cricket, scoring tons of runs.
"This lad has not played the IPL in the last three years. He's only got 9 First-Class hundreds this year. He was itching for a chance. Waiting to get onto the park. He has been bothering me 'When am I going to get a game? Will I get this one?' Even in the nets, he kept asking can I have a little more time in the middle. He has been itching to play and that was something special," Badani said.
"To get out there, the way you batted, and showed positivity, intent, game awareness, understanding which bowler to take down, where to take, them down. Very well done, fantastic approach. Let's have this going. Karun Nair, after three years, 89," he added further.
Besides his staggering numbers in domestic cricket, he remains the only Indian cricketer after Virender Sehwag to score a triple century in Test cricket. After not getting an opportunity in Karnataka in domestic cricket, he made a switch to Vidarbha. The decision proved to be a correct one, as Nair scored loads of runs for the side in domestic cricket.
He scored 863 runs from nine matches at an average of 54 with the help of four hundreds and two fifties in the Ranji Trophy. He was the top run-getter in the Syed Mushtaq Ali 2024-25 season, scoring 255 runs from six innings at an average of 42.5 and a strike rate of 177 with five fifty-plus scores. Despite that, the selectors ignored him from getting into the Champions Trophy squad.
Also Read: IPL 2025: "No Value If My Team Can't Win" - Karun Nair On His 40-Ball 89 Against Mumbai Indians
