Ashish Nehra hits back at critics, says he doesn’t care if he is in the XI or not for his last T20I

Ashish Nehra who has announced his retirement from cricket after the first T20I against New Zealand in Delhi has hit back at his critics in style. Many had criticised him for selecting himself in the XI by retiring after the first game of the three-match series. But the veteran has cleared that he doesn’t care if he would be playing in the XI or not in his farewell game. Few had also questioned his inclusion in the team only for the first match.

Nehra is all set to bid adieu to all forms of cricket on November 1 and it is expected that the team management might include him in the playing eleven in his farewell match. He made a comeback in the squad in the shortest format against Australia but never played as the skipper Virat Kohli preferred Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah over him. However, it remains to be seen if the team combination is changed for the sake of his inclusion.

India will go in with their best eleven

Ashish was furious over the comments from the people who questioned his selection and addressed them as ‘bade log’ (big people). “’Big’ people were saying Ashish Nehra has selected himself in the starting XI of the Delhi T20I. It’s the media’s job to sensationalise stuff and pick up controversial things,” he said as quoted by Sportskeeda. He also added that he was not bothered about his inclusion in the playing eleven in the final game of his career.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. I had clarified with the team management that Delhi has been allotted the match, so I’d like to bow out there. Then people were like he was not in the XI against Australia, why would he make the team against NZ. To them, I say that I don’t care whether I’m a part of the XI or not, the team management and the selectors know that. Whenever India are playing an international match, they’ll definitely go in with their best eleven players,” the 38-year-old added.

He also revealed that he would have bowed out of the sport if Delhi wasn’t allocated the match. “Now as far as being a part of the XI against Australia is concerned, I’ve been a regular in the starting line-up (T20I) since making a comeback two years back, so it doesn’t make much of a difference to me. (If Delhi wasn’t allocated the match) 100% I would’ve retired after the Australia series. It’s just because I have gotten the chance to retire at Kotla that I’m doing it,” Nehra concluded.