It's rare to see Jasprit Bumrah being taken apart by a batter. It does not matter the format, the condition, or the context. Bumrah is a fast-bowling enigma with an exact idea of what line and length to bowl at and what pace to bowl. It's pretty hard to dominate him.
That adds a feather to the innings that Karun Nair played on his IPL comeback, after three years. He smashed two neatly timed, cleanly struck sixes: the first soared over deep backward square leg, and the second, off a cunningly slow delivery from Bumrah, he gently caressed over long-off.
Nair smashed a terrific half-century in the tournament, after a gap of 2520 days, and though it was not enough to avert a defeat, he did put up a statement. He is here to stay. The fight is not over. The Nair 2.0 started with a 40-ball 89 against Mumbai Indians and the way he picked up bowlers, it seems he is here to entertain with more such fiery knocks.
Three years ago in December, Nair expressed his disappointment on Twitter, writing “Dear cricket, give me one more chance.” It was a time when the world had moved on from Nair, whose own prolonged lean patch did not help him. It's easy to forget he is still only the second Indian batter, after Virender Sehwag, to score a triple century. He played the innings of his life, and still couldn't make it to the next match, as the man who he replaced had recovered from injury. When Nair finally got a handful of opportunities later on, he could not grab it, and his fortune dropped so low, that he also lost his place in Karnataka's team in domestic cricket.
Last year, he decided to move to Vidarbha, a move that upturned his fortune. He compiled 779 runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and 863 runs in the Ranji Trophy. His run-scoring proficiency helped Vidarbha win the Ranji Trophy title. When Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy came, Nair carried his form, scoring 255 runs at a strike rate of 170. He did not stop there. He also played in the County Championship for Northamptonshire, scoring over 700 runs.
His form compelled Delhi Capitals to take a punt on him, and when they finally added him in the playing XI, Nair just seized the opportunity with excellent batting.
