'I want to do well in this tournament, enjoy my time in South Africa and make sure Mumbai Indians win the IPL.' That was Abhishek Nayar speaking to rediff.com before leaving for South Africa.
On the opening day of the second edition of the Indian Premier League the 25-year-old provided an indication that he could relish his time in South Africa with a masterful 35 off 14 deliveries that was instrumental in Mumbai Indian beating Chennai Super Kings by 19 runs.
Coming in at the fall of the fourth wicket -- Dwayne Bravo -- when Mumbai Indians were in a spot at 102-4 in the 14th over, Nayar, who in 14 matches in the inaugural IPL last year scored 206 runs @25.75, with an impressive strike rate of 149.28, provided the thrust Sachin Tendulkar's side was looking for by slamming two fours and three sixes.
He was particularly severe on Andrew Flintoff, the most expensive player of the second edition of the IPL, blasting him for 22 runs, including those three sixes, in one over. It was mainly due to his stunning assault that Mumbai Indians could surpass the 150-run mark
Nayar had played a leading hand in Mumbai's title run in the Ranji Trophy this season. Besides finishing among the top run scorers for his side, with 233 runs from four matches (@ 58.25), he also snapped up 10 wickets (@ 18. 60). His 99 in the final against Uttar Pradesh was a crucial innings.
Thus, it was not surprising that he was rewarded with an upgrade of his IPL contract for Mumbai Indians and a place among the 30 probables in India's preliminary squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in England in June.
Nayar has shown that last month's trip some Mumbai Indians players made to Durban, where they trained under Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes, was certainly worth the while. After this good start, Nita Ambani's side will be counting on the youngster for a better finish than the fifth place they ended up at last year.
