Ashish Nehra Retirement

Ashish Nehra

Ashish Nehra, who will retire after India’s first T20 against New Zealand in hometown New Delhi, wants his life after cricket to continue to remain as eventful as his playing career was.
The left-arm fast bowler from Delhi made his international debut way back in 1999 against Sri Lanka in Colombo. He started off his career on a decent note and was also part of the young Indian squad that played the 2003 World Cup. He amazed the world with a magnificent spell of 6/23 against England, where he swung the ball both ways and rattled the batsmen.

                         

His international journey since then has not been without hiccups. As a fast bowler, Nehra has been hit with a long string of injuries (ankle, bowel, hamstring, and shoulder injuries, and back strains) right through his cricketing career. More importantly, it took 12 surgeries for him to come this far. This is the main reason why a bowler of his calibre struggled to cement his place in the national team. And today Nehra is all set to play his final international game for India as they take on New Zealand in the first T20I match Feroz Shah Kotla Statdium in Delhi.
A total of 164 international matches across three formats in 20 years is not the greatest piece of statistic but the straight-talking Nehra will remain an enigma for what he could have achieved had he not gone under knife 12 times.
Due to fitness issues, he has been absent from the national scene for extended stretches, but has been a part of the Indian team in two largely successful World Cup campaigns, two Asia Cups, and three Champions Trophies. He has also been particularly effective in the IPL, in which he has represented five different teams. Nehra was called "one of the best bowlers that the Indian team has ever seen" by Ravi Shastri. M.S. Dhoni also suggested Nehra's name as the future bowling coach for India considering his massive experience, his ability to swing the ball both ways and his bowling under pressure