26-years old Indian batsman Karun Nair has credited Indian Premier League (IPL) for making him a better cricketer. Playing the IPL since 2013, Nair is now one of the regular faces in the tournament.
In 2013, Nair made his IPL debut by playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) where he played only two matches in that season.
In the next two seasons (2014 and 2015), Nair played for Rajasthan Royals where he got regular chances and showed his batting skills for them. While he scored 330 runs (11 innings, average 33.00) in 2014, he only managed to score 181 runs (11 innings, average 16.45) in 2015.
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Nair played for Delhi Daredevils in the last two seasons (2016 and 2017). In the last two seasons, Nair scored 357 runs (12 innings, average 35.70) and 281 runs (13 innings, average 21.61) respectively.
In the 2018 IPL Auction, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) bought him for INR 5.6 crore. The Punjab franchise has the belief in him.
Also read: Kings XI Punjab – Probable XI Prediction
Talking about the role of IPL for his cricketing career, Nair told Cricketnext in an exclusive chat, “IPL has played a huge role for me, as a domestic player playing in the IPL and doing well gives you the confidence as you’re playing against international quality. I was lucky enough to play with the Royals. They put me out there and gave me confidence. I am also thankful that they gave me sufficient time to make an impact.”
Making Test debut in November 2016, Nair suddenly came into the limelight after scoring a triple-century (303*) against England at Chennai in December 2016. It was the third time when an Indian batsman scored a triple-century in Test cricket, as former Indian opener Virender Sehwag had scored two triple-centuries in Test cricket.
Till the date, Nair has played 6 Tests and 2 ODIs, but couldn’t produce positive batting performances apart from the Test triple-century. As a result, he has not included in the squad since March 2017.
However, Nair claimed that it doesn’t affect him and he is confident to make comeback strongly in the international cricket.
He quoted, “I have learnt that it is important to maintain an emotional balance and not go overboard with things. Now, it doesn’t affect me as much as it did before. I can only do my bit and score at the domestic level. Rest is upto the selectors and the team management, what I do know is that I will be a better player next time I get an opportunity.”
Virender Sehwag is the team director of Nair’s new IPL team KXIP. Nair believes that the former Indian opener will understand his situation.
Nair said on that, “He is separate from any other cricketer in terms of his fearlessness and the way he played his game. I can’t be like him but I will have a word with him. He will understand my situation (of having scored and then being dropped) better. If his style works for me, then I will certainly work on it.”
Like Nair, KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are also in the KXIP squad while the three batsmen are the present Karnataka cricket team members.
Nair said on that, “It’s certainly an advantage playing together, we understand each other’s game really well and it will be exciting to play together. We have a very well rounded team and I am looking forward to an exciting season ahead.”
Nair will play this IPL under Ravichandran Ashwin’s captaincy, who will lead any T20 side for the first time. The right-handed batsman is excited to play under the Indian off-spinner as he said, “I am excited to play under him. I have know him for the past two-three years and he is a really smart guy. He thinks on his feet and is a forward thinking captain. “
