IPL playerIndia2008 to 2014
Abhishek Nayar
On scorecards: AM Nayar · Right-hand bat
Abhishek Nayar, a batter, played seven IPL seasons for four franchises.
The arrival
Abhishek Nayar was there from the start, in the league's first season, 2008, signed by Mumbai Indians outside the auction.
That first season brought 14 matches, 206 runs and 1 wicket. It would stay the best season of the career with the bat.
The peak
The high point with the bat was 2008, for Mumbai Indians: 206 runs at an average of 25.8, striking at 149.3 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 129.1, and a highest score of 45 not out.
With the ball, the best season was 2009, for Mumbai Indians: 4 wickets at 7.00 runs an over, while the league's bowlers went for 7.28, with best figures of 3 for 13.
Franchise by franchise
2008 to 2010, Mumbai Indians. 30 matches, 457 runs and 5 wickets.
2011 to 2012, Kings XI Punjab. Bought at the 2011 auction for ₹3.60 cr. 14 matches, 106 runs and 2 wickets.
2013, Pune Warriors. Bought at the 2013 auction for ₹3.65 cr. 11 matches, 66 runs and 2 wickets.
2014, Rajasthan Royals. Bought at the 2014 auction for ₹1 cr. 5 matches and 43 runs.
4 spells with four franchises in all. The longest was with Mumbai Indians, 2008 to 2010.
Bat, ball and method
Across the career, Abhishek Nayar struck at 116.5. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 123.3, so Abhishek Nayar scored about 7 runs per hundred balls slower than the typical batter of the time. 51% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 55 fours and 20 sixes.
The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 38.7% of the balls Abhishek Nayar faced were dot balls, a higher share than 76% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 28.9 balls, and a four every 10.5.
With the ball, 9 wickets in 229 deliveries, at 8.44 runs an over against a league rate of 7.54 for the same seasons: 0.90 an over more expensive than the typical bowler of the time.
The fielding record: 13 catches and 2 run-outs.
At the auction
Abhishek Nayar went under the hammer three times. The highest price was ₹3.65 cr (US$675k), paid by Pune Warriors in 2013, more than 6 times the base price. The market cooled over time: the last purchase, in 2014, cost ₹1 cr.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
The legacy
Abhishek Nayar made 60 IPL appearances, the last for Rajasthan Royals in 2014.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Mumbai Indians | 14 | 206 | 45* | 25.8 | 149.3 | 0/0 | 1 | 9.71 | 1/18 | 4 | ||
| 2009 | Mumbai Indians | 13 | 193 | 35 | 21.4 | 127.0 | 0/0 | 4 | 7.00 | 3/13 | 4 | ||
| 2010 | Mumbai Indians | 3 | 58 | 27 | 29.0 | 113.7 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 1 | ||
| 2011 | Kings XI Punjab | 10 | 61 | 17* | 8.7 | 91.0 | 0/0 | 2 | 9.34 | 1/22 | 2 | ||
| 2012 | Kings XI Punjab | 4 | 45 | 24 | 15.0 | 91.8 | 0/0 | 0 | 16.00 | - | 0 | ||
| 2013 | Pune Warriors | 11 | 66 | 25* | 11.0 | 90.4 | 0/0 | 2 | 7.38 | 1/15 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Rajasthan Royals | 5 | 43 | 23 | 14.3 | 91.5 | 0/0 | – | – | – | 1 |
Franchise journey
- Mumbai Indians: 2008 to 2010
- Kings XI Punjab: 2011 to 2012
- Pune Warriors: 2013
- Rajasthan Royals: 2014
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 38.7% |
| Balls per four | 10.5 |
| Balls per six | 28.9 |
| Dot balls bowled | 30.1% |
| Balls per wicket | 25.4 |
| Catches | 13 |
| Run-outs | 2 |
| Stumpings | 0 |
At the auction
| Auction | Set | Base price | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | – | ₹23 lakh | Sold to Kings XI Punjab for ₹3.60 cr (US$800k) |
| 2013 | – | ₹54 lakh | Sold to Pune Warriors for ₹3.65 cr (US$675k) |
| 2014 | AL2 | ₹30 lakh | Sold to Rajasthan Royals for ₹1 cr |
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet