Thirteen overs into the game and the scorecard for the Rajasthan Royals read just 97 for the loss of one wicket. Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair were at the crease, but both batsmen hadn’t shown any signs of taking a liking to the big shots. Instead they were running hard between the wickets, finding a few boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking and then there were those odd attempts to clear the rope which didn’t quite get the desired results. In fact, a few landed safe owing to some generosity shown on the field by the Delhi Daredevils. But then began a turnaround. Singles and doubles which had become a norm and the highlight of the Royals’ innings thus far soon got a facelift as the duo went berserk and severe on the Daredevils bowlers. Karun, who had had a silent tournament so far and was promoted to bat at number three, changed gears and along with Rahane began an assault that not only changed the complexion of the game but also put them in a position of great advantage. Suddenly, surprisingly in the blink of an eye, the Rahane-Nair duo had put up a century stand to take Royals to a score of 180 plus. While Rahane took top honours for his unbeaten 91 from 64 balls, Karun’s heroics with the bat didn’t go unnoticed. He had played perfect foil to Rahane’s classical blitz. If Rahane believed in getting runs the conventional way, Karun brought out the reverse sweeps and put the power in his hands to good effect getting runs with utmost ease. His onslaught over IPL debutant Gurinder Sandhu was worth a watch as he literally ripped him apart for 16 runs in an over. In the process he also brought up his first half-century of the season and a run drought had come to an end. In this chat with iplt20.com, Nair speaks about application and the method in his batting that got him his half century against the Delhi Daredevils on Sunday night. The pitch at Brabourne Stadium is relatively unknown. Was it challenging to bat under such conditions? I have played one game here previously. It was an India ‘A’ game against West Indies. I got about 40 in that game and remained unbeaten. It was about six months ago but that gave me a fair bit of idea of what to expect from the pitch here. We had a camp here as well for three days and I had kind of got used to this kind of bounce and the pace of the wicket. To start off, a new batsman would always find it tough to bat on this pitch. It would only get tougher if the bowlers hit the right areas because the ball was doing a bit. It was a difficult pitch to bat on to begin with, but once you spent some time in the middle it became good to bat on. It was coming on the bat nicely. Was that the reason why runs weren’t coming easy in the first half of the innings? You just had 97 on the board after 13 overs and then ended up getting 189. Yes. It was really important for us to get a partnership after Shane Watson’s dismissal. While stitching the partnership we also had to bear in mind to keep the run-rate high. We spoke about running hard between the wickets and then getting the odd boundary and play normal cricket shots. We wanted to take the game as deep as possible because we have good hitters in our side. We did that really well. The plan was to get ten runs in every over after the time-out and target 170 at the end of 20 overs. Anything more than that was always meant to be a bonus. One boundary an over was what was discussed in the meeting. You haven’t got big scores against your name this season so far. This knock must give you confidence. Coming into the tournament, and in the tournament, I was playing quite well. In the beginning of the tournament I was trying too hard to get runs. Also there weren’t many deliveries for me to play. Since I got a lot of time to play today, I told myself why not make the most of it. I had made my mind to give myself time and I am glad I hit the ball really well today. I told myself at the beginning of the innings I should just play run-a-ball and look for the odd boundary. I was confident I could find those boundaries while looking for the singles and doubles at the same time. I gave myself time in the first ten to fifteen balls and from then on I decided to go for the big shots. I am not a powerful hitter, but I can hit the ball for a six. A six doesn’t necessarily need to go out of the ground, it has to just clear the fence and I think I can do it easily. I just focus on playing normal cricket shots and try not to lose my shape while playing them. Talking about time, batting at number three would have helped your style of play. When was it decided you would bat in that position? Even in the last game I was supposed to bat at number three. It was just a management decision to send Sanju Samson ahead of me (in the match against Mumbai Indians). The management keeps changing their decisions according to the situation of the match. Tonight the team felt I was right for the situation and they decided to bat me at three. So do sudden changes in plans with regards to batting positions disturb your game-play? Not at all. Once you go into the field, you have a lot of time to think about your batting. You have to read the situation and react accordingly. Batting positions don’t matter to me much. I want to play well whenever I get the opportunity and do well for the team. How was it batting with Ajinkya Rahane, just a few things to learn from him as well? The most impressive thing about Rahane is that he keeps things simple. It is amazing how he keeps it simple and gets runs at the same time. He never gets flustered by the situation. He doesn’t try too much and plays just normal cricket shots to get runs. That is one thing I have been trying to learn from him. Also having Rahul Dravid sir is a huge inspiration and it is a privilege to be a part of the same team. Whatever I can take from him during practice sessions will be valuable for me.