Karun, Dhoni and an IPL game takeaways

The best IPL match for me in the last two weeks was between Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals.

- Sanjay Manjrekar

Few matches have so many takeaways.

Let's start with Karun Nair, who played a sensational innings, albeit in a losing cause. I rarely get emotional when it comes to cricket but after the game Karun Nair's tweet from three years back resurfaced; it said 'Dear cricket, give me another chance'.

And cricket gave him another chance.

It's not just his potential IPL career that has got a boost, but this innings put Karun Nair in the spotlight and with him his terrific domestic performances in the shadows for the last two years. In an ideal world, this should not be the case, for it is the job of the selector to be closely watching domestic performances when no one else does.

However, the reality is that IPL performances have such a huge visibility factor that now everyone is talking about Karun Nair, not just how terrific a T20 batter he is now but how he should be in the Indian test team with 863 runs at an average of 53.93 in the last Ranji season.

Notwithstanding that T20s and Tests are two ends of the spectrum, and the way he batted in this innings gives us no indication how he is likely to go in England.