He’s had his moments in IPL, but Karun Nair, one of only two triple centurions for India in Test cricket, hasn’t quite become a T20 mainstay just yet. Not that his test career took off in the way expected after the landmark 303 against England in 2016. As for IPL, the demand to play different roles on different teams didn’t help his case, Nair argued.
Despite having a stellar start to his IPL career, scoring 330 runs for Rajasthan Royals with a strike rate of 142.24 in 2014, and playing a few more franchises after that, Nair has been unlucky to establish himself as a mainstay in T20 cricket.
Smiling, Nair explained on Monday why he couldn’t achieve a high level of success in the shortest format.
“In my opinion, the reason behind that is that I’ve never been the kind of lead player on a team in T20 cricket. If you see, when I score runs, there’s someone else who scores better in the same game (laughs),” said Nair in a press release from its IPL franchise, Rajasthan Royals.
“…But that doesn’t bother me at all — all I care about and why I play games is to help the team win.” “On a more serious note, why people don’t see me as a T20 specialist is because over the years I’ve been asked to play different kinds of roles, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I’m hoping to have a great season at the Royals and focus on whatever I’m told,” added Nair.
After a strong relationship with Rajasthan Royals in recent years, batter Nair is back in the RR camp for IPL 2022 and looks forward to contributing to the team’s success.
“Obviously a lot of things have changed since I was here (at the Royals) for the first time, but this team always feels like home to me. We have a balanced side and I enjoy getting to know all the guys here. .
“It’s an exciting phase in the history of this franchise and I’m looking forward to playing an exciting brand of cricket, which I know the Royals are always striving for,” said 30-year-old Nair, who also recently became a father. .
Nair has previously played with Royals skipper Sanju Samson in the IPL and is delighted to be playing with his “good friend”.
“I’ve always loved playing with Sanju, so I can’t wait to get back in touch with him on the ground. We’ve had some great collaborations over the years and I’m really happy to know Sanju, along with Kumar (Sangakkara) and Zubin (Bharucha), have shown confidence in me to bring me back into the team.” Nair’s teammate at Rajasthan Royals spinner KC Cariappa is also excited to play alongside the phenomenal Ravichandran Ashwin in the upcoming IPL, seeing it as an opportunity to learn as much as possible from the veteran tweaker.
This time at RR, Cariappa also has India leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal as company.
Cariappa, who has spent the past two seasons with the franchise, is looking forward to working with two of India’s leading spinners.
“I have known Yuzi for a long time and have enjoyed working with him over the years. While, with a legend like Ashwin bhai on the team, it is great for me to learn and improve my bowling through input from him to get,” Cariappa said.
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“Of course it’s good to be back with the Royals – my second home. There is a new feeling around the camp, which of course is also due to the fact that we have a solid team,” added the 27-year-old from Karnataka.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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