Ashish Nehra - The man who refuses to fade away

It was probably India’s biggest hurdle in the World Cup against Pakistan in semis. India had merely managed 260 which was by no means, good enough. India’s classical left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra who had a horrid last match against South Africa erased it off with his effort in this match. Nehra bowled superb and finished with figures of 10-0-33-2. No wonder his spell played a big role in India’s win. He was unfortunately ruled out of the finals due to a finger injury. Unknowingly that was apparently the last time we saw the veteran bowl at the international stage.

Nehra’s career halted as the selectors had moved on. He was India’s best bowler in the limited overs format since the last 3 years, but no one conjured back at him. He barely had any media backing for his push-up. All this while, India went through a transitional phase. Last year when CSK picked him in the IPL auctions, he became the butt of jokes.

A professional player is someone who keeps trying his best even when he doesn’t feel like. Ashish Nehra redefined the perception this year, that IPL is only an arena of fresh legs. Going round the stumps, slowing the ball and by clever usage of the short ball, he started giving the opposition batsmen a run for their money.

His speed had hardly dropped as he bowled like a ‘War Horse’ for CSK. He kept taking wickets at death and became Dhoni’s go-to-man throughout the season. Nehra ended up with 22 wickets in 16 games and also won 3 Man of the Match awards in the season for his clinical performances. The saying ‘Old is Gold’ became famous throughout the tournament as his mate Sehwag kept everyone entertained on Twitter.

Inspite of a standout performance, he couldn’t earn a call back for the national team even though his counterpart Harbhajan did. He learnt to accept, embrace and relish what he had been given. But who knew what was to come.

In a surprising and dramatic turn of events, Nehra was included in the T20I squad for the Australia tour. The selectors pinned hopes on his experience and fostered him to lead the bowling. It has been a miraculous journey for Nehra ‘jee’ this year. He now has one great chance to bow down skilfully in a respectful manner. If Nehra succeeds, he gets a new lease of life to turn the World T20 into his farewell series and perhaps also help India regain it. Only time would say if this fairytale for Nehra will have a happy ending!

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Written by Hitman Cricket