Zaheer Khan admits that he has always aspired to get the extra bounce Nehra managed

Zaheer Khan, arguably India’s finest left-arm seamer who’s ability to swing the ball either ways was one of Team India’s most lethal weapons in the past. Over the years, the left-arm seamer’s bowling evolved from the longest format of the game to become one of the best bowlers in the shorter formats.

Zaheer recalls the time that he met his fellow left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra for the first time in 2001 when India was touring Zimbabwe. Nehra has always been expressive right from the beginning of his playing career. Ahead of the 38-year-old’s farewell match against New Zealand, Zak talks about the strengths of the veteran bowler.

“Ashish’s strength, if I may say so, is that he has always been very realistic in his approach towards things, be it life or cricket. And that is something he has advised us, too. If there were times when you were not putting in the desired effort with regard to your game he was never shy of pointing that out,” wrote Zaheer in his column at ESPN Cricinfo.

Suggestion on and off the field

Further, he talked about Nehra’s suggestions on and off the field, be it setting the field or suggesting the bowlers to improve the length and line.

“Such transparency only helped us in our preparations, our bowling plans, and to react during a match situation. As he grew as a fast bowler he would act like a bowling captain. He always enjoyed talking about cricket and he is also a guy who is easy to talk to,” added the former Indian pacer.

Zaheer particularly recalls Ashish’s strength which is extracting extra bounce from the pitch, with some swing on the ball.

“As a fellow fast bowler I always aspired to that extra bounce Ashish could extract, which was a result of his high-arm action. His long bowling stride, as opposed to mine which was short, really gave him the advantage to get on top and extract that extra bounce. Also, if you study the early part of his career, Ashish would bring the ball into the right-handed batsman with big swing, which was amazing.” concluded Zaheer in his article.