Ashish Nehra decides to call it time on his IPL career

Indian pacer, Ashish Nehra has reportedly decided to retire from international and competitive cricket after the conclusion of the first T20 International match against New Zealand on November 1. The 38-year-old is said to have communicated his desire to both the Indian skipper, Virat Kohli as well as the head coach, Ravi Shastri. His choice of the retirement match is befitting as he’ll be ending his career in front of his home crowd at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi.

Nehra recently made headlines for having passed the rigorous Yo-Yo Test and paved his way into the T20I side, in spite of being a senior player. However, the veteran pace spearhead has decided to call it quits owing to there being no World T20s scheduled by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for 2018. Nehra’s also said to have taken the call while keeping in mind that young and effective pacers like Jasprit Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar deserve to play more number of matches.

BCCI Official confirms Nehra’s retirement

As reported by Hindustan Times, a senior BCCI Official confirmed Nehra’s decision and said, “Yes, Ashish has told both Ravi and Virat that he does not want to continue beyond November 1 when India plays New Zealand at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Obviously, there is some element of surprise. One thought that he would like to continue till the home season against Sri Lanka. But he feels, it’s the right time to move on,”

“Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah are form bowlers and Ashish felt that it’s only fair in the interest of the team that they continue. Bhuvi has improved as a T20 bowler in leaps and bounds and Ashish said that the pair should continue. Had there not been a match at Kotla next month, Ashish would have retired after playing the third T20 International at Hyderabad on October 13,” the official added.

Further, Nehra has also decided to not play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the coming year. Having made his international debut back in 1999, the talented bowler has 44 Test wickets, along 157 ODI and 34 T20I dismissals to his name. It’ll be interesting to see if any of the IPL franchises will rope in Nehra for the role of bowling coach-cum-mentor in 2018, owing to his extensive knowledge and experience of the shortest format.