Karun Nair was the domestic success story, across formats, in the season gone by. India’s only Test triple-centurion apart from Virender Sehwag amassed a mountain of runs during Vidarbha’s Ranji Trophy-winning campaign (863), either side of stacking up 779 runs (average, a ridiculous 389.50) in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy and 255 runs at a strike-rate of more than 170 in the 20-over Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
His exploits in the two white-ball formats caught the eye of those who matter – the franchise bosses. Having not played an IPL game for two straight years, the 33-year-old found favour with his old franchise, Delhi Capitals, who bought him at the November auction for his base price of ₹50 lakh. At the Capitals, whom he led for three games in 2017 when they were Delhi Daredevils and original skipper Zaheer Khan was injured, Nair would be reunited with old mate KL Rahul. During Karnataka’s golden run in domestic cricket for two consecutive seasons from 2014-15 when they won six titles, Nair and Rahul were the driving forces.
After the high of those two years, culminating in a dreamy unbeaten 303 against England in the Chennai Test in December 2016, Nair fell on hard times. His Test career hit a brick wall and he lost his place in the Karnataka side after a series of underwhelming performances; the move to Vidarbha in 2023 has earned him a second wind and Nair is determined to make the most of it.
He bided his time patiently when IPL 2025 began, aware that in an explosive and power-packed line-up, he wouldn’t merit a place in the initial playing XIs. But that didn’t stop him from working hard. Experience dictated that in a tournament as long as the IPL, his time would come, though even he may not have imagined that it would come as early as in his team’s fifth game, against Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
Under new skipper Axar Patel, the Capitals had won their first four games when they came to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in the national capital for the first time. Faf du Plessis was unavailable with a groin injury, so Nair slotted in as the Impact Player for Mukesh Kumar. He was required to walk out to face the second delivery of his team’s quest for 206 and a fifth straight victory after Jake Fraser-McGurk was dismissed first ball by Deepak Chahar.
Nair took little time to hit his straps. Two fours either side of deep point in the next over, from Trent Boult, sent him on his way and by the time Jasprit Bumrah arrived at the bowling crease, the diminutive right-hander had breezed to 19 off 11, four fours.
Bumrah vs Nair
Bumrah missed MI’s first four matches recuperating from a lower-back surgery but showed last Monday against Royal Challengers Bengaluru that he was none the worse for three months away from the game. He knew Hardik Pandya looked up to him for the breakthrough and would have quietly fancied his chances until being systematically taken apart from a switched-on Nair, looking in complete command as he dumped his array of destruction on an unsuspecting full house.
The first Nair statement came when he made a little room to the pacer supreme’s fourth ball of the night, on middle and leg, and drove it over cover for four. It was breathtaking, it was audacious, it was simply wow. Bumrah’s eyes opened wide; this was uncharted territory for him.
But wait, this was just the beginning. Two deliveries later, Nair carved a slower ball to square third man for another four. He had smacked Bumrah for two fours in three balls. Could you believe it?
Oh, you sure could, because there was more in store. The first ball of Bumrah’s next over was flicked over deep backward square for six. The third, a shin-high full-toss, was creamed behind point for four, the fifth, a slower one, was dismissed over cover for another six. In eight deliveries against Bumrah, Nair had scored 24 runs. When he rounded off the over with a brace to bring up his first IPL 50 in seven years, he had taken 18 off Bumrah’s second over, the most runs an Indian batter has ever scored off a Bumrah over in the IPL.
It was as if Nair knew what Bumrah was going to bowl before the bowler himself. They say it happens when one is in the ‘zone’, when one is reacting on instinct, not pausing to think. They say it’s extremely hard to get there, harder still to stay there for any length of time. Hard, harder, whatever – no one has told Nair any of this. If you still have any doubts, ask Bumrah. The best in the business, but schooled, just effortlessly schooled, by Nair. What a shame that his 40-ball 89 would eventually bring his team no joy.