I have been working hard for the last 3-4 years: Ashish Nehra

The comeback of Ashish Nehra has been something of a fairy tale. Having stated that he would never don the India jersey again, the 36-year-old left arm pacer made a comeback to the T20 squad. His brilliant performance in the tour of Australia has seen him named in both the Asia Cup squad and the World T20.

Ashish Nehra also went on to state that the hard work that he had put in had finally paid off. “I won’t call this a dream coming true. I have been working hard for the last 3-4 years, and the kind of performances I have given in the Champions League or the IPL, I was expecting this, as T20 World Cup was coming up.

“People are saying it is a dream coming true because I hadn’t played for 3-4 years. It hadn’t happened in Indian cricket that at the age of 36-37 any fast bowler makes a comeback after 3-4 years. It’s a new thing, but if I can inspire young bowlers and other fast bowlers playing in the domestic circuit, I will be very happy,” Nehra said.

“Now with the kind of performances I have given in the IPL and all the T20 tournaments, with the T20 World Cup coming, the selectors just wanted to have a look at me if I can deliver in Australia so that they can pick me for the T20 World Cup,” he added.

Nehra also said that the faith MS Dhoni showed in him added the confidence in his ability.” When the captain is trusting you, it’s really good. It means he will always give you the bowling in tough situations, like in the first six overs in T20s and the last few overs. So I was very happy. That thing used to give me a lot of confidence, that the captain is showing faith in me.

“You have to bowl four overs. For that, you need a different kind of fitness. In T20s, if you can bowl good four overs and you can field well, then why not. You can play,” he added

“I love playing cricket. Last 3-4 years were very difficult to motivate myself, because, in spite of doing well, the selectors were not picking me. But now they have given me a chance. I will just try to avail that chance as much as I can.”