It was on December 10, 2022, when Karun Nair tweeted, “Dear cricket, give me one more chance.” Nearly two weeks later, the Vidarbha batter found no takers during the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction that took place in Kochi. The right-hander, who has a Test triple hundred to his name, had to wait for two more seasons, to wait for his chance and finally prove his mettle at the world’s richest league.
Bought for ₹50 lakhs by Delhi Capitals in the IPL 2025 mega auction, the Karun Nair warned the benches in the first four matches before coming as a Impact substitute for Mukesh Kumar during their chase against Mumbai Indians on Sunday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Chasing 206 runs on a batting-friendly wicket, Karun Nair walked out to bat on the second ball of the innings after Jake Fraser-McGurk went back for a duck. Since then it has been Karun Nair all the way as the 33-year-old raced away to a 22-ball fifty.
It was his first IPL fifty after seven years, with his last coming in the 2018 edition. At the time of his fifty, Karun Nair smashed eight fours and two sixes, including two maximums off Jasprit Bumrah. Before the Mumbai Indians clash, Karun Nair’s last IPL game came in 2022 for Rajasthan Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders.
For te unversed, Karun Nair’s flick off Jasprit Bumrah for a six, even forced Hardik Pandya to praise and slow clap for the Vidarbha batter. He was finally cleaned up by Mitchell Santner for 89 off 40 balls, which included 12 fours and five sixes.
How Karun Nair made IPL comeback?
Out of the Indian team since 2017, Karun Nair made sure he performed consistently at the domestic level. He has a successful 2024-25 domestic season with Vidarbha, scoring 255 runs in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in six innings at a strike rate of 177.
But that’s not all. In the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Karun Nair was dismissed just once as he aggregated 779 runs at an average of 389.50, including five hundreds. He also scored 863 runs in the Ranji Trophy in 16 innings as Vidarbha clinched its third title.
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