Karun Nair opens up on dumping his array of destruction on Jasprit Bumrah: ‘He’s the best, so I had to…’

Karun Nair was a man on a mission on Monday as the 33-year-old put in a masterclass against Mumbai Indians, but it wasn’t enough as Delhi Capitals had a bizarre late collapse to lose by 12 runs. Chasing 206 runs, Nair had to arrive early as opener Jake Fraser-McGurk was dismissed for a golden duck in the first ball of the opening over. The veteran has been hogging the spotlight this year due to his domestic performances, featuring in his first match in IPL 2025, after last playing in the league in 2022.

Nair’s job was to fill in the void left by the absence of injured Faf du Plessis and he did so with ease. Nair got going right from the start, and began to dominate MI bowlers, even though his partner Abishek Porel was taking time. In Jasprit Bumrah’s opening over, Nair smacked him for two fours as he leaked 11 runs. Then in the last over of Powerplay, Nair took on Bumrah again, reading him like a book. He pummeled him over deep backward square for an 83m six. Then as Bumrah missed a yorker, Nair sliced him for a four. The best was when he went inside-out and launched Bumrah, with a smirk on his face.

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The MI pacer leaked 29 runs in his first two overs with Nair hammering him for 26 off nine balls. The strategic time-out which came after Nair’s 22-ball fifty, Bumrah also had something to say as Nair bumped into him while getting to his half-century.

Karun Nair on facing Jasprit Bumrah

Speaking on facing Bumrah after the match, Nair said, “Obviously I was confident. I was playing, I was in the flow and I didn’t want to stop the flow.”

“It was about picking the right balls and playing to the areas that I wanted to play. He’s the best bowler in world cricket, so I had to be very watchful of where he’s going to bowl. I just backed myself,” he added.

Nair eventually fell to Santner, who bowled a peach of a delivery to dismiss the batter in the 12th over. Nair departed for 89 off 40 balls, packed with 12 fours and five sixes, and narrowly missed out on a ton, and with DC at 135/3 in 11.4 overs. It looked like he had set it on a plate for the other batters to wrap up a win.

But MI had other plans, and the comeback began with Nair’s dismissal. The likes of KL Rahul (15), Axar Patel (9) and Tristan Stubbs (1) were dismissed in quick succession, and then Bumrah’s magic in the 19th over forced three run-outs in the final three deliveries as DC crashed for 193.