Karun Nair: Three years in exile, three shots that screamed 'I still belong'

On Sunday, Jasprit Bumrah made an exception to his usual lack of composure. Not since Faf du Plessis in 2021 has a batter hit Bumrah for more than one six in an IPL over. Karun Nair, an Impact Sub who filled in for the injured South African in the Delhi Capitals lineup and returned to the IPL after 1077 days, even got the nod from the opponent captain. It was the last over of PowerPlay. With two off-side fours in an 11-run opening over from the Mumbai Indians pacer, Karun had already started to upset Bumrah. This time, Karun picked him up from a length and flicked him casually over the longer of the two square boundaries, deep backward square, for an 83-meter six. As he watched the ball being taken from the crowd, a certain Hardik Pandya was among the applauders. Bumrah missed nailing a rare yorker next, and the Karnataka batter sliced it through to the backward point fence for four more. The daring inside-out loft over long-off for half a dozen off a slower one with a smirk as he held his pose was, however, the best of the bunch. Bumrah has outwitted the best of the best with his slower shots, but Karun Nair was a man on a mission in Delhi after getting his second wind in the Indian Premier League. In his first two overs, Bumrah gave up 29 runs, and Karun alone scored 26 runs off nine deliveries. Rarely has Bumrah been treated this contemptuously, and in the strategic time-out that followed Karun's 22-ball fifty on his IPL comeback, the MI pacer had an earful for the batter who had bumped into him fetching the brace to the milestone. Bumrah was rattled, and so were Mumbai - admittedly "running out of options" against Karun's near-perfect execution throughout his 40-ball 89. Karun batted 59 minutes of the first hour of Delhi Capitals' chase of 206, coming on the very second ball of the innings as he did, and not for a moment during his fearless hitting in the middle did any other result seem possible than the hosts extending their unbeaten streak to 5/5 in IPL 2025. However, the 33-year-old was not the Capitals' top pick for the XII. Sameer Rizvi had gotten the nod ahead of Karun in the one game du Plessis previously missed due to the injury. In the two games that the South African was unable to participate in, KL Rahul and Abishek Porel had been promoted to start in their place. Like in Chennai, Rizvi's name appeared ahead of Karun's in DC's listed Impact Subs on Sunday as well. Karun's wait for a comeback game, after two seasons outside the IPL circles, had stretched to four games despite the phenomenal chart-topping domestic season he had had across formats.