‘When you go to England, you will take at least four fast bowlers’ – Ashish Nehra © AFP
Ashish Nehra has expressed a strong desire to make a comeback to India’s ODI team. Nehra, who last played in the format in the 2011 World Cup semi-final against Pakistan, has said he retains hopes of playing fifty-over cricket for India when they land in England in June for the Champions Trophy.
“I would love to play in the Champions Trophy,” Nehra told ESPNcricinfo. He felt he would have a key role to perform, considering fast bowlers are likely to play a more dominant role in English conditions. “When you go to England you will take at least four fast bowlers in addition to two spinners. I know I can bowl anywhere: up front, in the middle overs and at death. I can also share the experience I have with the other young fast bowlers.”
The fact that his last 50-over game before the tour game against England was in December 2015 against Maharashtra, does not deter Nehra. He said he has already made a detailed plan on how he wants to go about his comeback. Having played two matches for North Zone in the inter-state domestic Twenty20, Nehra’s next assignment is for Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the domestic 50-over tournament. Nehra intends to play at least half of Delhi’s six fixtures and is confident of lasting the distance in one-day cricket.
“I aim to play at least three matches to build up my match-fitness. Fifty overs is a different challenge and Vijay Hazare is a good platform to test myself.”
“I bowl about eight overs even in the nets while preparing for a T20 match. It is not about fitness. It is about the feel of playing in a 50-over match.” He is confident he will come through. “Once I play these matches I will be fit enough to play and good to go for the Champions Trophy.”
Since he last played for India in an ODI, Nehra has maintained his form through his surges in the IPL, initially at Chennai Super Kings and then with the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The selectors could not ignore the key role Nehra played at those teams, as evidenced by his settled role in the Indian T20 side.
Nehra originally wanted to attempt making a comeback during the New Zealand ODI series late last year, but a bout of chikungunya curtailed that desire as he was forced to spend a couple of months regaining fitness.
During his time out of the ODI team, Nehra has maintained form through the IPL © BCCI
Nehra wanted to test his fitness – physical as well as match – by playing the T20 series against England before turning up for Delhi and North Zone in the domestic limited-overs tournaments. The comeback was impressive. Although Jasprit Bumrah held his nerves in a last-over thriller in Nagpur which helped India level the series, but Nehra played a winning hand too, taking 3 for 28. Nehra was the guiding force for the young pair of Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, who see him as a father figure and speak of how keen he is to share insights. Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad, too, has acknowledged Nehra’s importance, saying he can be handy in English conditions.
Nehra will soon turn 38 – the oldest among active Indian players- but remains one of the fastest bowlers in India. He consistently bowls between 135-140 kph and his experience of having been in high-pressure moments in global tournaments lend Nehra the heft, while also making him the go-to bowler for the captain.
Nehra admits these strengths are his allies each time he is making a comeback. Although it is premature to talk about the 2019 World Cup, Nehra remains optimistic.
“The 2019 World Cup is still two-and-a-half years away. We are going to play at least 50 one-dayers in between. For me every tournament is important. I will try to play as much as I can.”
Nagraj Gollapudi is a senior assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo