Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson, who has won the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2018 and served as Delhi Capitals (DC) assistant coach, was left baffled when he saw Karun Nair walk out to open alongside Faf du Plessis against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). In the away game, Nair opened the innings with veteran South Africa batter instead of young Abishek Porel. Nair departed for a golden duck and Porel had to walk out to bat straightaway. The change in batting position made Watson slam the think tank of DC.
"Something as simple as randomly changing the opening combination—for no apparent reason—was just not needed. I was genuinely surprised. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw Karun Nair walk out to open with Faf du Plessis. That move made no sense," Watson said while speaking to Star Sports.
"Whatever the thinking was in the Delhi Capitals’ camp, I think they got that one completely wrong. When you start chopping and changing positions like that, it suggests there's no clarity in roles. Even if players aren't consciously overthinking, decisions like this can make them second-guess what’s going on," he added.
DC's epic collapse
After Nair edged one to wicketkeeper off the first ball bowled by Pat Cummins, DC suffered a massive collapse. In his next over, Cummins got rid of Du Plessis. Then he dismissed Porel as well. Harshal Patel and Jaydev Unadkat joined the party as they got rid of skipper Axar Patel and KL Rahul respectively. DC lost half the side for 29 in 7.1 overs.
Stubbs, Ashutosh help DC save face
After Vipraj Nigam was run out, Tristan Stubbs' unbeaten 36-ball 41 and impact player Ashutosh Sharma's 26-ball 41 helped DC post a respectable total of 133/7. However, rain played spoilsport and the match was abandoned at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. DC and SRH shared one point each. SRH were knocked out of the playoffs race whereas DC have 13 points from 11 games and sit at fifth position on the points table.
Nair's run in IPL 2025
On the back of performances in domestic cricket, Nair made a comeback in the IPL. He replaced an out-of-form Jake Fraser-McGurk and announced his arrival with an 89-run knock against Mumbai Indians (MI) in a losing cause. Since then, the 33-year-old's only notable knock was a cameo of 31 against Gujarat Titans (GT) which came in a losing cause as well. So far, he has scored 154 runs from six innings at an average of 25.67.