One of the Nicest Fast Bowlers to Have Played the Game – Shoaib Akhtar on Ashish Nehra
Jan 9, 2019 at 3:52 PM
It was a fitting end to the international career of Ashish Nehra, as the men in Blue trounced the Kiwis by 53 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. His international career spanned 18 years which is stunning especially for a fast bowler who has undergone as many as 12 surgeries during his career.
Following his exit from international cricket, it wasn’t only his teammates who gave him a grand farewell, but the whole cricketing fraternity applauded a man who was one of the funniest characters in the Indian team.
Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar famously known as the “Rawalpindi Express” was the latest to congratulate him on a wonderful career and called him one of the nicest and honest fast bowlers to have played for his nation. Taking to his Twitter handle. Akthar wrote,
“1 of the nicest guy & honest fast bowler has retired from INTL cricket. A Nehra it was pleasure playing against u #Cheers fella#.”
1 of the nicest guy & honest fast bowler has retired from INTL cricket .A Nehra it was pleasure playing against u #Cheers fella#
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) November 2, 2017
One of the most inspiring characters in the world of cricket, Nehra was honoured by the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) after naming one of the playing ends at the Feroz Shah Kotla after him. He became only the 2nd bowler in international cricket after James Anderson to have a bowling end after him.
Meanwhile Nehra’s longtime teammate Yuvraj Singh also shared a heartfelt message on Nehra following his retirement where he revealed many funny incidents about the veteran left-arm pacer. It was an emotional moment for Nehra to bid adieu to international cricket after being there on the circuit for 18 years. Though he hasn’t played as many matches for India, as he would have liked in his 18-year long career the injuries have made a huge impact to restricting his career to only 17 Tests, 120 ODI’s and 27 T20I’s.
Nehra who made his first-class debut at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 1997 told Sanjay Manjrekar during the post-match presentation that though he would be missing bowling, but his body will be at peace.
“I will miss all this. That’s what you train for. One thing which will definitely be at peace will be my body. I said earlier that I could go a couple more years, but there can’t be a better time to walk away,” Nehra said.
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