Ashwin defended Karun Nair (Photo: PTI)
In IPL 2026, the match was played between Delhi Capitals and Punjab Kings on 25 April. A total of 8 catches were dropped in this match, out of which Karun Nair alone dropped 2 catches. Obviously, in such a situation, questions were bound to be raised on Karun Nair’s fielding. This happened but former Indian cricketer R. Ashwin’s thinking was completely different on the catch drop issue of Karun Nair. He said that do not blame Karun Nair. Ashwin’s words showed that the real fault behind his dropping the catch was Delhi Capitals.
Karun Nair came to field in place of KL Rahul
In the match against Punjab Kings, Karun Nair’s name was not among the players playing the match. After the end of Delhi’s innings, he was fielded in place of KL Rahul. KL Rahul became dehydrated after playing an inning of 152 runs against Punjab Kings, after which he did not come on the field for fielding. Karun Nair came on the field in his place. Another thing that happened due to KL Rahul not fielding was that Tristan Stubbs had to take charge of wicketkeeping.
Karun Nair dropped 2 catches in DC vs PBKS match
Now what happened was that Karun Nair, who came to field in place of KL Rahul, dropped 2 catches of Shreyas Iyer. He first released his catch in 14.6 overs and then released it in 15.2 overs. Taking advantage of these two catch drops, Shreyas Iyer played an unbeaten inning of 71 runs in 36 balls and helped his team win the match. Fingers started being pointed at Karun Nair for dropping the catch of Shreyas Iyer. In such a situation, Ashwin has explained very well why Delhi Capitals should be held responsible instead of blaming Karun Nair.
The fault is not of Karun Nair, but of Delhi Capitals – Ashwin
Ashwin told senior sports journalist Vimal Kumar that Karun Nair was not a part of the playing eleven of Delhi Capitals. According to him, the players who are not going to play in the match are informed about the same a day in advance. Then their routine is such that they are not ready for the match. Same thing happened with Karun Nair. In such a situation the catch may be dropped. Ashwin claimed that he has seen Karun fielding many times. He is an amazing fielder.
Ashwin further said that since KL Rahul did not come on the field for fielding, the keeping was done by Tristan Stubbs, who is a good fielder of long on and long off. In such a situation, his question is that if you had to keep a substitute then why did you not use Abhishek Porel? He is also a keeper. If Abhishek Porel was keeping, Stubbs would be fielding in his place. Ashwin said that if the keeper gets dehydrated then the team is allowed to have an alternate keeper.
