Karun Nair revives IPL career in ruthless fashion, giving DC one more reason to celebrate despite heartbreak against MI – Firstpost

Karun Nair had become something of a forgotten entity as far as the Indian cricket team and the IPL were concerned, even if he was scoring runs consistently in the domestic circuit. This was, after all, an individual who had become only the second Indian after Virender Sehwag to score a Test triple century, only to be dropped from the team months later.

The 33-year-old would suffer a similar fate in the world’s biggest T20 league, where he played full seasons for various teams between 2014 and 2018 but made a total of five appearances in three seasons from 2019 to 2022.

“Dear cricket, give me one more chance,” Nair had posted on X (formerly Twitter) in December 2022, months after making his final appearance in the IPL until Sunday.

Our hearts are full pic.twitter.com/cau5zlrmcE

— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 13, 2025

Nair, who joined Vidarbha in 2023 after playing for Karnataka for 11 years, seized the opportunity with both hands in the 2024-25 domestic season and forced the Indian cricket community – from the team management and selectors to fans – to sit up and take notice.

He smashed nine centuries across formats and amassed 779 runs at a mind-boggling average of 389.50. And even though his stellar run wasn’t enough for him to board the plane to Dubai for the ICC Champions Trophy, Nair greatly boosted his chances of featuring in Delhi Capitals’ campaign at some point in the
2025 season, if not right away.

Nair revives IPL career in scintillating fashion at Kotla

The opportunity did not come Nair’s way right away, as he warmed the bench in the first four games of the season. DC were on a roll after all, winning all four matches in Axar Patel’s maiden season as captain, and veteran batter Faf du Plessis had formed quite the stable opening combination with Jake Fraser-McGurk, with Abhishek Porel sealing himself at the No 3 spot.

Nair needed some divine intervention to break into the team, which came at du Plessis’ cost as the former South Africa captain missed the first game of the season at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium due to an injury.

And when he walked out to bat as the ‘Impact Sub’, replacing Mukesh Kumar in the XI, DC were one-down without a run on the board, with Deepak Chahar dismissing Fraser-McGurk first ball in their chase of the 206-run target set by MI.

What followed was one of the
most extraordinary comebacks witnessed in the IPL, which deserved a happy ending but ultimately did not. Nair smashed his way to 89 off just 40 balls, collecting 12 fours and five sixes along the way, comfortably outshining everyone else who performed on Sunday evening. That however, was not enough for DC to secure a fifth victory in as many outings this season.

Nair set the tone on what was a good batting surface with three fours in five deliveries from Trent Boult. The highlight of the evening, however, was the manner in which he mowed down star bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the final over of the powerplay, smashing him for two sixes and a four in a space of five deliveries, resulting in the ignominy of an 18-run over for India’s pace spearhead.

Making an IMPACT with INTENT

Karun Nair takes on Jasprit Bumrah to reach his #TATAIPL FIFTY after years

Updates https://t.co/sp4ar866UD#DCvMI | @DelhiCapitals pic.twitter.com/C7a59EkjxD

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2025

Nair ended up completing to his first IPL fifty in seven years in just 22 deliveries as DC raced to 72/1 at the end of the powerplay, and suddenly 206 wasn’t appearing that tall a target anymore. Porel had been playing second fiddle until that point, scoring 16 off 13 balls.

Nair would later greet MI captain Hardik Pandya and Karn Sharma with a six in their first overs after the conclusion of the fielding restrictions, and it wasn’t long before the partnership with Porel went past the century mark. At 119/1 around the halfway mark, it was Delhi’s game to lose.

Karn, who was later adjudged the Player of the Match for his game-changing haul of 3/36, would prove MI an opening by dismissing Porel and breaking the partnership. However, it wasn’t until Mitchell Santner got rid of Nair with a beauty that the tide began to turn in Mumbai’s favour and things gradually began to go downhill for Delhi.

Nair will have had mixed emotions at the end of the game, which ended in a dramatic 12-run victory for MI after a flurry of run-outs in the penultimate over, with his heroic knock ultimately going in vain.

He will, however, get plenty of opportunities this season to get that happy ending and produce match-winning performances, now that he has made it extremely difficult for Axar, coach Hemang Badani and the rest of the DC management to bench him after such a knock.