Winning the World Cup in 2011 was special: Ashish Nehra

The former Indian cricketer Ashish Nehra feels that winning the 2011 Cricket World Cup was the special moment in his illustrious career. Unfortunately, he couldn’t play in the final after sustaining an injury in the semi-final against Pakistan. But he played a crucial role as a senior member of the team throughout the tournament. However, he retired after serving Indian cricket for almost 18 years last week during the T20I series against New Zealand in Delhi.

Nehra went through all the hardships during his injury-prone career but always came back strongly into the national side. His body has undergone as many as 12 surgeries after which any cricketer would have given up. But Nehra used to regain his fitness back and keep himself motivated to play for India. He saw the game evolving during his career and also made changes in his bowling accordingly.

Adam Gilchrist was the most difficult to bowl at

Ashish Nehra, in his interview to LiveMint, revealed that Adam Gilchrist was from a different planet and was the most difficult batsman bowl at. He also praised the Australian team of the early 2000s who was at the peak of their cricket during that period. “Adam Gilchrist and that Australian team were at a different level. From 2002-08, Gilly was on a different planet. (Jacques) Kallis was also very good, as were (Ricky) Ponting, (Brian) Lara and Viru (Sehwag),” he said.

He also praised the intensity of the skipper Virat Kohli on the field under whom he played his last international game and hailed him for his growth as a player over the years. “It hasn’t happened overnight. It took him three-four years to change his body. His intensity is staggering. If he plays with a tennis ball in a park, he will have the same intensity,” Nehra Ji added.

The 38-year-old also said that India’s triumph in 2011 World Cup was special for him and also recalled his match-winning spell against England in 2003. “Winning the (2011) World Cup was special. But people remember personal moments like the Durban 2003 match (Nehra’s 6 wickets for 23 runs—the best for an Indian in a World Cup),” he concluded.