Karun Nair’s brilliant run continues into IPL 2025: Reasons for his transformation

Karun Nair’s fiery 89 off 40 balls against Mumbai Indians, along with his strong domestic run, has turned heads. What’s behind this stunning resurgence in form?

Karun Nair burst into international cricket with a bang, hitting 303* against England in just his third Test innings in December 2016. Then, he was discarded after a series of low scores in Test cricket. Six years later in 2022, he posted a tweet, “Dear cricket, give me one more chance.” Three years later, Nair made a stunning comeback, scoring 40-ball 89 for Delhi Capitals (DC) against Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2025. Although the knock went in vain as DC lost the match, Nair’s innings was breathtaking as he batted like a man possessed, even thrashing the best T20 bowler in Jasprit Bumrah for a series of fours and sixes. However, Nair’s current status is no miracle. It was a lot of hard work, patience and a positive mindset that helped him make a comeback.

A look at his recent domestic performance shows Nair is a batter who is in a zone and in prime batting form irrespective of the format, oppositions, and match-ups. 

Here’s a look at how Nair has performed in domestic cricket recently:

How Nair constructed stunning 89 against MI 
Nair was playing his first IPL match after a gap of three years. It was also his first match of IPL 2025 season. More so, he came to bat as an Impact Player. Mumbai were not prepared for Nair’s onslaught as the batter took the opposition bowling to the task. Nair displayed his strokemaking, timing and brute power to the spectators. He smacked, drove, cut, slashed, flicked, played ramp shots and reverse sweep with audacity,  playing as if it was the last match of his life. The best part of his knock was the 3 fours and 2 sixes he cracked off the bowling of Bumrah who is known to bowl those unplayable yorkers. But Nair batted confidently, with the flick shot off a Bumrah’s leg-side ball for a six standing out. Nair didn’t spare any bowler as he effortlessly came to the line of the ball, and drove, cut, slashed with confidence.

Read More: IPL 2025, DC vs MI, Highlights: Delhi commit hara-kiri from position of strength; Mumbai win

What propelled Nair to successful IPL return
It was his herculean tally of runs and good form in the domestic cricket that made it easy for Nair to strike possibly one of the best knocks in IPL history. Bumrah’s tally of runs gave him a positive mindset as he batted with authority and confidence. A look at Nair’s shots show how sure he was of his footwork, playing his strokes according to the line and length of the ball and reacting sharply to strike 12 boundaries and five sixes during his knock. Hence, it would be unfair to call this knock a fluke as it needed a lot of practice and huge bulk of runs in the domestic cricket for Nair to construct this innings effortlessly. His positive mindset helped him score freely, and make strokeplay delightful to watch.

Read More: IPL 2025, RCB vs DC, Highlights: Rahul’s 93*, Vipraj-Kuldeep 4-35 help Delhi maintain clean sheet

What’s the way forward
It’s apparent Nair wants another chance at the national level to prove he is made for top-flight cricket. He has scored bulk of runs at the domestic level to merit a place in the national squad. With India going through a transition in Test cricket and a Test series in England coming up, Nair may be given a chance to be part of this squad as he is the in-form batter, and hungry for success at the national level. But it may be argued that selectors should give a 33-year-old another chance in Tests, or rather groom youngsters for the five-day format. There has been a history of players making Test debut post 30 and completing a successful national career. Michael Hussey of Australia has set this pattern before. Hussey of Australia made his debut at 30, and went on to play for 11 years and 79 Tests for Australia. Nair could take inspiration from this real-life example of Hussey and not stop until he makes the most of this chance cricket is giving him.  

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