Months ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, Nair showcased his power hitting skills with nine maximums, while the 32-year-old was also brilliant with his stroke play, hitting 13 boundaries
Mysuru Warriors captain Karun Nair hit swashbuckling 124 n.o. off just 48 deliveries against Mangaluru Dragons in a Maharaja T20 Trophy match at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday. Months ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction, Nair showcased his power hitting skills with nine maximums, while the 32-year-old also struck 13 boundaries.
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KARUN NAIR SHOW AT CHINNASWAMY STADIUM. 🥶
- 124* runs from just 48 balls including 13 fours & 9 sixes in the Maharaja Trophy by the Captain. 🤯 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ViJ2LnL0mN
Mysuru Warriors put up a mammoth score of 226/4 in 20 overs. In response, the Mangaluru Dragons made only 138 for 7 in 14 overs before rain ended the match, resulting in Nair's side winning by 27 runs. Mysuru fell short by eight runs in last year's final against Manish Pandey's Hubli Tigers, but have high hopes this year.
Nair's international career couldn't get going despite becoming only the second Indian to score triple hundred, after Virender Sehwag, in Test cricket. The Bengaluru-based cricketer scored 303* against England in his debut series back in 2016, but managed to play only six games for India in the longest format. The 32-year-old played his last match for India in 2017.
After struggling for regular playing opportunities with Karnataka, Nair the switch to Vidarbha ahead of the 2023-24 season. The 32-year-old played a key role in Vidarbha's run to the final of Ranji Trophy last term, scoring 690 runs, with an average of 40.58.
Apart from the red ball cricket, the right-hand batsman also displayed his skills in the shortest format, scoring a match-winning 95 off 52 balls in Vidarbha's record run chase against Bengal in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy. Nair also struck a century and a fifty in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
In 2024, Nair was part of the IPL side Lucknow Super Giant, but didn't make any appearance. The 32-year-old played his last IPL match for Punjab Kings back in 2020. He has scored a total of 1480 runs from 73 matches for various IPL teams so far.
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