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Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth has described Karun Nair's heartwarming journey, a "story of the ages", a tale that serves as a reminder for the youngsters that the only way to come back is to let their bat do all the talking.
In his first appearance since the 2022 season, Karun finally got his opportunity to put up a show and flaunt his true batting calibre. His wish, which he made public on December 10, 2022, "Dear cricket, give me one more chance," turned into reality during the pulsating clash between Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. In Delhi's pursuit of a daunting 206-run target, Karun lit the Arun Jaitley Stadium with his sizzling 89 from 40 deliveries, leaving the spectators mesmerised and former cricketers in awe of his prolific batting form. He took on the world's best, Jasprit Bumrah, and hammered him all over the ground, leaving the spectators on the edge of their seats and those sitting in their homes glued to their television screens. "That was a fabulous knock by Karun Nair, what a comeback and he completely deserves all the love and praise coming his way! What a story for the ages any youngster reading this the only way to come back is by talking with the bat!" Srikkanth wrote on X. With a wide array of shots from his heavily loaded arsenal, Karun went berserk during his exploits at the crease. Even though, in the end, all his efforts went in vain as DC fell to a 12-run defeat, his enchanting performance reminded everyone that he was far from a finished product. After 2520 days since his last fifty, Karun toyed with MI's star-studded bowling unit and ended his long-awaited drought of scoring a half-century in the cash-rich league. All the runs he had scored during the buildup to the tournament were leading to his moment. Karun remained unfazed even with the fierce speedsters Trent Boult and Bumrah charging at him. Bumrah tried to put Karun in an awkward spot by varying his pace, but Karun read him like a book. It was the final over of the powerplay where Karun truly flaunted his boundary-hitting muscle. He began the over by smoking the ball past the boundary rope for a maximum. He topped it up by dispatching the ball for a boundary on the third delivery. On the penultimate delivery of the over, he picked up the slower delivery and lofted it over long-off for another maximum. Karun celebrated his half-century with a double on the final ball and mustered 18 runs from the over. Karun left Bumrah in dismay in nine deliveries by garnering a whopping 26 runs, laced with three fours and two towering maximums. (ANI)
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