Ashish Nehra, who bagged his 3rd ‘Man of the Match’ award of IPL 8 during the 2nd Qualifier match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore, said that picking 3 Man of the Match awards is not easy for a fast bowler in a season and added that this shows that he is in good rhythm. He also added that this is his best season so far in the IPL, but added that it is only statswise.
He added that even in 2008 season, when he was in Mumbai Indians or 2009 and 2010 season, when he was in Delhi Daredevils, he was bowling well, but just that the wickets column is making the difference. The fact that he is 36 now and was 5 years younger then is the reason why he was not noticed then, he added.
Nehra said that people are noticing his performance because someone at 36 is doing so well in T20s. On his match winning performance aginst RCB, Nehra said that it was important to take wickets early or they would have scored 160 plus which would have been a difficult one to chase down. He added that the delivery which he got Virat on could have gone for a boundary or a six also, so one must have luck in his favour too.
Nehra has picked 22 wickets this season at an average of 18.54 and economy of just above 7, and has been a major force behind CSK reaching the finals, inspite their batting woes. CSK will now face Mumbai Indians tomorrow in the finals at Eden Gardens.