Karun Nair hogged the limelight in the IPL 2025 contest between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday, April 13.
He scored 89 runs off 40 balls on his return to the IPL after three years. He last played in IPL 2022 and had to wait for another three years to make a comeback in the tournament. He scored his fifty in 22 balls and made a statement with the bat.
He hit Jasprit Bumrah for two sixes and had a verbal altercation as well with him, which was one of the moments of the match. The way he batted, Karun Nair made sure everyone took notice of him.
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However, his effort with the bat came in a losing cause for Delhi Capitals. Chasing 206 runs to win, Delhi Capitals were bowled out for 193 runs and fell short of the target by 12 runs. In a way, it was Nair's dismissal that turned the game for DC and gave MI a big opening into the contest.
Karun Nair's Brilliant Response To His Knock Against MI
This was DC's first loss of the season after four consecutive wins. Speaking about his knock in the post-match press conference, Karun Nair said that there is no value in talking about his knock because it came in a losing cause.
"See, there's no benefits in talking about that. I did play well, but my team lost the match, so it really doesn't matter. There's no value for me of such innings if my team can't win," Karun said in the press conference.
He also spoke about his preparation heading into the IPL. Karun Nair was picked up by Delhi Capitals for his base price of 50 lakhs. He finally had his opportunity with the bat when DC lost the wicket of Jake Fraser-McGurk on the very first ball of their chase.
"Honestly, I had the confidence that I've played [IPL] before and I know how it's going to be, and it's nothing different that I'm going to be facing anything new. So, but in my mind, it was just about going out there and giving myself a few balls and just getting used to the speed of the game again and the atmosphere" said Nair who last played in IPL 2022 for the Rajasthan Royals.
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He further spoke about how he went about his business playing inside the powerplay. He batted with an attacking intent right throughout his innings.
"So I just told myself, 'give yourself the time, play normal shots and then, you know, improvise when needed'. Fortunately, everything came off, and I'm happy that I batted well. But again, I would have loved that if the team had gone on to win" Nair added further.
Karun Nair scored a truckload of runs in the domestic season of 2024-25 heading into IPL 2025. 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.
Also Read: From Legends to Rising Stars: Top 5 Highest IPL Scores ft. Abhishek Sharma
