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Welcome back, Ashish Nehra

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ASHISH NEHRA'S RETURN TO INDIAN SIDE

Welcome back, Ashish Nehra

by Vishaal Loganathan • Last updated on Sunday, 20 December, 2015, 08:09 AM
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Between June 2009 and February 2011, Nehra was the second highest ODI wicket-taker in the world. © Agencies
Between June 2009 and February 2011, Nehra was the second highest ODI wicket-taker in the world.

 

We Miss You Nehra!!!!

Yep. With all four exclamation marks.

Chennai. October 22, 2015.

The match had all the ingredients of a stellar affair. A Virat Kohli hundred. An AB de Villiers hundred. A Dale Steyn special. And MS Dhoni's tactical nous to close out the game. Yet, one of the recurring features was the big message board which, time and again, called out to Nehra. The board was displaying SMS texts sent in by the fans at the ground.

We Miss You Nehra!!!!

The message was perhaps sent out in jest, and it did induce laughter. There was, however, no doubting that this fast bowler from Delhi had now become one of Chennai's favourite cricketers - alongside the likes of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Brendon McCullum.

Nearly two months later, Nehra was without an IPL team and was sent back to the auction pool to be picked by one of the eight teams. He, however, was now an India player again. Much to everyone's surprise, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named the 36-year-old in the T20I squad to play the three-T20I match series against Australia.

Nehra has always been a player who has divided opinion. The mention of Nehra triggers an array of deeply contrasting views. He delights and appalls in equal measure. Excels and slumps episodically. Appears, disappears and reappears without warning. Nehra was invariably labeled in the 'promise-scuppered-by-injuries' assemblage and and as his career veered towards obscurity, he soon became an object of ridicule on social media. Unfairly.

The left-armer, then all wiry, made a relatively quick impact in world cricket when he helped the Indians claim their first away Test win in 15 years in 2001. He ended the two-Test series in Zimbabwe with 11 wickets against his name. With a smooth side-on action and a well-developed inswinger, the Delhi bowler was a promising pace prospect in world cricket. He further established his reputation following an amazing spell of 6 for 23 against England in the 2003 World Cup.

Nehra was quite a regular fixture in the ODI side from 2001 to 2005, but then a combination of bad performances and injuries saw him lose his Test spot, and later his ODI slot, too. His choice then became a simple one. A story with a simple variance - to battle, or to give up.

Four years later, on the back of some solid domestic and IPL performances, Nehra was back in the fray - playing the ODIs v West Indies. With the 2011 World Cup at home in sight, Nehra produced some impressive displays to keep himself in the reckoning. He was the second highest wicket-taker in the world, only behind Bangladesh's Shakib al Hasan, from the time he made his return and up until the 2011 World Cup.

During India's victorious campaign, Nehra only played three games. His last game, which was the semi-final against Pakistan saw him bowl exceedingly well and take two for 33 in ten overs. India won that game by 29 runs. Nehra missed the final with a fractured finger. Two months later, his name was missing from the list of Indian players picked to play the ODIs and T20I against West Indies. It seemed as if Nehra's run in India's colours was done with.

"Till now, I don't know what exactly happened and nobody ever told me," Nehra had said in an interview with ESPNCricinfo. "Whenever I played with the current lot - I am not saying they are not good, I am giving an example - be it in the Challenger Trophy or the Deodhar Trophy, I have been at par with them or better than them at times. They have tried 20 or 25 bowlers but not Ashish Nehra. I don't know where I went wrong"

Once again, it came down to whether to fight, or throw in the towel. Nehra nearly gave in.

 

 
Nehra's stint with CSK helped his get back into the reckoning. © BCCI
Nehra's stint with CSK helped his get back into the reckoning.

 

He was snapped up by the ever-consistent Chennai Super Kings during the 2014 Indian Premier League auctions for a handsome amount. And micro-blogging site, Twitter, saw a mad dash of users poking fun at Nehra.

"With all that money from #IPLauction, an injury-prone Ashish Nehra can finally buy the vehicle of his dream - ambulance," one user had tweeted.

His performances, however, were much in contrast to what was expected by the critics. His first season saw him play just four games, as injuries came to haunt him again, but Nehra came back strong in the next season. Three Man of the Match awards, and 22 wickets - the left-armer had transformed himself into a match-winning bowler and there were now calls for his inclusion in the Indian side. His death bowling was top-notch and his looked fitter than he had ever been. This time Virender Shewag started the jokes, using twitter to term him Nehra ji (a term used as a mark of respect in India), but it was clear that the jokes were doing the rounds because of how much the players and fans appreciated Nehra and his efforts

But the call still didn't come.

In August this year, Nehra admitted that he was considering his options. He had just launched the Ashish Nehra Cricket Academy and was looking at becoming a bowling coach. He wanted six-eight weeks to make up his mind.

The call finally came 19 weeks later. Nehra, 36 years & 234 days, was in the reckoning to play his first game for India since March 30, 2011.

Over the course of his career, Ashish Nehra was many things. Food guzzler. Horrid fielder. Venom-spewer when his teammates partook in horrid fielding off his bowling. Hidebound technology user. Wannabe-Maradona. Left-armer whose career went south due to injuries. Those now-stupid memes on the Internet.

But now, he will foremost be remembered as the pace bowler who turned his back on naysayers and doom-mongers and made his return to the Indian national side at the age of 36.

Welcome back Ashish Nehra. This is the finale you deserve.

 

Source : http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/76639/ashish-nehra-welcome-back-india-odi-and-t20i-squad-to-australia

express bowling Grand Master

express bowling

Posted
Posted

Control, guile, skills and experience are some of the most importance qualities for a good T20 bowler ( unlike test matches and even ODIs where stamina, pace and bounce are very important ).

I expect Nehra to do well in T20s even if he is not as quick as he used to be.

Mosher Grand Master

Mosher

Posted
Posted

Control, guile, skills and experience are some of the most importance qualities for a good T20 bowler ( unlike test matches and even ODIs where stamina, pace and bounce are very important ).

I expect Nehra to do well in T20s even if he is not as quick as he used to be.

Why has Nehra not played any domestic cricket lately?  

express bowling Grand Master

express bowling

Posted
Posted

Why has Nehra not played any domestic cricket lately?  

That is a very valid point you raise. I can understand him not playing Ranji as he is older and stamina was never his strong point.

But why not VH ? Is he fully fit ?

Ironhide Contributor

Ironhide

Posted
Posted

That is a very valid point you raise. I can understand him not playing Ranji as he is older and stamina was never his strong point.

But why not VH ? Is he fully fit ?

Nehra got disillusioned over his non-selections and decided to preserve his body and play fewer games and only IPL from now, why risk injury while playing domestics at this stage of his career? But rest assured he will give absolutely everything and put his body on the line for the next 3 months of Indian cricket from Aus series to Asia cup to  T20 World Cup.

Mosher Grand Master

Mosher

Posted
Posted

Nehra got disillusioned over his non-selections and decided to preserve his body and play fewer games and only IPL from now, why risk injury while playing domestics at this stage of his career? But rest assured he will give absolutely everything and put his body on the line for the next 3 months of Indian cricket from Aus series to Asia cup to  T20 World Cup.

Preserving his body is fine but what about match fitness. We can't expect him to straight away bowl full throttle in T20's. Is he atleast playing domestic T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy?

express bowling Grand Master

express bowling

Posted
Posted

Nehra got disillusioned over his non-selections and decided to preserve his body and play fewer games and only IPL from now, why risk injury while playing domestics at this stage of his career? But rest assured he will give absolutely everything and put his body on the line for the next 3 months of Indian cricket from Aus series to Asia cup to  T20 World Cup.

Ashish  Nehra's commitment has never been in question. It is good to see him play domestic T20s because match practice and match fitness are very important too.

maniac Grand Master

maniac

Posted
Posted

Ashish  Nehra's commitment has never been in question. It is good to see him play domestic T20s because match practice and match fitness are very important too.

sad to see this guy just focusing on t20s..... He has so much more to offer if not as a player but just as a mentor.

rkt.india Grand Master

rkt.india

Posted
Posted
That is a very valid point you raise. I can understand him not playing Ranji as he is older and stamina was never his strong point.

But why not VH ? Is he fully fit ?

Played 1-2 games in vh trophy

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