After a bidding war with Royal Challengers Bengaluru ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, cricketer Karun Nair was purchased by the Delhi Capitals for INR 50 lakh at the super auction. In the 18th edition of the ten-team tournament, the star batter, who has participated with the squad in the 2016 and 2017 editions, will once again provide his best effort.
After having a fantastic time with this year’s Ranji Trophy winners, Vidarbha, Nair entered the training camp as DC prepared for their preseason preparations. Significantly, Nair has been the team’s top batsman in all domestic competitions this season. He led the team in scoring in the T20 Cup’s Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the List-A competition’s Vijay Hazare Trophy, and he amassed well over 800 runs in the Ranji as well.
Nair dressed up as Rocky Bhai from the wildly popular Sandalwood film K.G.F. in order to celebrate his arrival in style. Like the Kannada film, their crew posted the video on social media at noon on Saturday, March 15, and it quickly became extremely popular online. “Are you ready for Karun Nair?” was the caption they wrote on the photo.
Watch the post here
𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗞𝗮𝗿𝘂𝗻 𝗡𝗮𝗶𝗿? 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fT1qokTGuQ
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) March 15, 2025
The 2024–25 domestic season for Karun Nair
Nair found a new home in Vidarbha for the 2023–24 domestic season following a dismal departure from Karnataka State. They lost in the Ranji finals, but the India international came back stronger the next season after a respectable showing of more than 500 runs in his Vidarbha debut.
He scored the highest runs for Vidarbha after Yash Rathod’s 960, amassing an incredible 863 runs in just nine innings during the red-ball championship. With 255 runs in six games, the 33-year-old led the team in scoring in SMAT 2024, and his strike-rate was an incredible 177.08. With a record-breaking 779 runs in eight games at an incredible average of 389.50, Nair’s performance in the Vijay Hazare Trophy was far more impressive than his T20 tenure.
The Kerala native was notable for leading Mysuru Warriors to victory in the previous Maharaja T20 Trophy 2024, where he also led the team in scoring. With the 2025 Indian Premier tournament approaching, the Kerala native will be hoping to repeat his performance with the bat and lead the side to their first-ever championship in the lucrative tournament.