No flair no problem: Karun Nair rewarded for playing orthodox cricket

CONVENTIONAL wisdom suggests all-rounders are at the top of the pecking order when it comes to assembling a team for the game’s shortest format. However, the recently concluded IPL has shifted focus back on the technically correct batsmen. The value of game-changers like Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers was never in doubt, but this IPL has also thrown up quite a few Indian batsmen who have hitherto quietly plied their trade in domestic cricket.

One among them is Karun Nair. Stories like Delhi Daredevils’ Nair are in many ways the real triumphs of IPL. He isn’t an explosive batsman who makes the crowds rush to the stadiums. His personality suggests he isn’t likely to be selling products to us on the telly as yet. The DJ’s at the grounds don’t scream his name as much. His stats don’t match the stratospheric heights of Kohli or de Villiers but he has brought great value to his team by playing “simple and orthodox cricket”. In other words, with a kind of a game that not long ago was deemed alien to the T20 format. However, the 24-year old has proved his worth, earned respect, and has now been rewarded with a call-up to the Indian team for the Zimbabwe tour which begins in a little over ten days.

Despite his obvious potential, the 24-year-old has been largely subdued in three preceding IPL seasons. In his debut season in 2013 for the Rajasthan Royals, he played just two games and scored 9 runs. Not the most auspicious starts one would think. He was much better off in 2014 edition, scoring 330 runs with three half centuries. This though was followed by a dismal season with the Royal Challengers Bangalore.