You have to be mentally strong to bowl in the death: Ashish Nehra

38-year-old left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra has been an inspirational character in the Indian cricketing circuit and has never failed to hog the limelight. He understands what it takes to be a fast bowler and how he needs to maintain his body in order to represent India for as long as possible. With a number of injuries Nehra has sustained in his career so far, it is really an astonishing thing to see him in action till now. He is one among the very few cricketers who made his international debut in the previous century and still continues to represent his nation.

Nehra recently made a comeback in the T20I series against England very recently and played an integral part in the 2^nd encounter which helped them pull off a nerve-wracking thriller. The pacer has the ability to bowl some good overs up front and back it up with some tight death overs. He will definitely look to perform to his potential in the IPL which might pave his way for a return to the national team during the Champions Trophy title defence in June.

“My simple thinking about bowling in the death, number one is that mentally you have to be very strong. There are so many times I have seen that the first ball you bowl goes for a six, the second ball also goes for a six and you feel maybe this over is going for 25-26 runs,” Nehra was quoted as saying by News 18.

“But if you are mentally strong and even if the first two balls go for sixes you can still bowl a 15-run over. Those 5- 10 runs make a big difference,” he further opined. He admitted that if it was in his hands he would have bowled 6 yorkers in an over. “Everbody’s mindset is different. Yorker is one word which I hear in T20 cricket, the more and more I play. It is very easy to say like everyone says ‘Oh, bowl a yorker!’ because somebody who never bowled, he doesn’t know what it takes to bowl a yorker,” he said.

“It is very easy to say go and bowl a yorker. If it’s in my hands to bowl good yorkers I can bowl six. It is not that easy,” further added. The veteran also conceded that the team management is aware of his credentials and what he can deliver.

“It is not necessary that they will be looking for a left-arm seamer. And it is not that I am on trial. Everybody knows if I am fit what I can do. If the team management, the captain and coach want me and if I am ready and raring to go, and if I am fit then definitely I will play,” Nehra said on the prospects of playing in the Champions Trophy.

“But it is not that the team is looking for a left-arm fast bowler. But if you have a left-arm fast bowler it does make a difference or if you have three left-arm fast bowlers and if you have two right-handers it makes a difference. Every team likes variety. We have people like Bhuvneshwar Kumar who can swing the ball or Jasprit Bumrah, who is really gold with the old ball. If you do well there is always a scope,” he said.

Nehra conceded that to go with his training process, his recovery process also becomes that much important. He further said that at the age of 38 it is not only the bowlers who have to face hardships but it is also the same case with the batsmen.

“For me, recovery is as important as training. If I say it doesn’t make a difference, at my age I will be lying. At the age of 38, not only fast bowlers but even for a batsman, it becomes difficult.

“You have to put in extra yards even for recovery or training or practice and that is what I have been doing,” he said.